Neely was talking to me about the “original” Apple Computer Stores from the 80’s. But I wasn’t able to find any images of them but instead found some old snapshots of the old Apple’s website thanks to Apple Gazette and EMU. All, but the first and the last, captions are direct copy/pastes from Apple Gazette.
The original apple.com from circa 1997.
From 1996 to 1998 this is what Apple.com looked like. By today’s standards this site is laughable (although still better designed than MySpace), but at the time this was cutting edge.
In 1998, Apple updated their look with this much more streamlined design.
In 2000, Apple redesigned the site again. This new design is essentially the “missing link” between the 1998 design, and the layout that is still used today. Notice the red apple at the top of the page.
In 2001 the front page recieved another slight make-over. This time the “News Headline” bar was given an Aqua enhancement, and the Apple at the top of the page turned blue.
In 2002 the Apple in the top corner became gray (which it still is today). The rest of the front page remained virtually the same – only the site features significantly changed.
The current front page design of Apple.com is almost identical to it’s 2002 counterpart, except for the “News Headline” bar, which is now a simple grey, and the addition of the iPod+iTunes tab.
This was snapped just now in 2007. The look and feel has been significantly updated to match the look and feel of Leopard. Also various interface face elements were also cleaned up throughout the site. I suspect this new revision will be around for another couple of years or so until the next cat is out of the cage from Cupertino.