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75 Comments
- wedges, on 02/24/2009, -0/+31funny... apple looks great... but his site looks like a bad gateway.
- franklymister, on 02/24/2009, -5/+32It's a good site, yes, but the author is confusing usability with great style. It's especially clear in his final two lines - "There are so many usability techniques used by Apple. Which ones speak to you?"
Usability doesn't "speak to" a user. It should be invisible, and just work.
If you want to analyze the usability of a site, the quickest way to get an overview is by applying Jakob Nielsen's ten heuristics to it: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_li ... - azureskies88, on 02/24/2009, -24/+51Wow...just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, this comes along and takes Macsterbation to a whole new level.
- batmanz, on 02/24/2009, -6/+27Honestly? The site is fine, but it certainly is not worth this article, and it isn't really "so good."
- mrroarke, on 02/24/2009, -5/+23Is it as good as Google's?
- AndrewMoyer, on 02/24/2009, -0/+18"Bad Gateway
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server."
I really like the retro, minimalist style. It's genius! - aIucard, on 02/24/2009, -2/+17Not that great. The only page with a really clean and simple interface is the basic www.apple.com. Click on any of the other pages, Store, Mac, iPod + iTunes , iPhone and you'll notice they all suffer terribly from too many menus around the sides and bundles of links along the bottom of the page that nobody clicks on.
The only part I actually like is the bar along the top of the Apple - Mac page that you can drag and see all the computer models. - hollywoodphony, on 02/24/2009, -0/+11Yeah, it's great until you have to find where to login for support.
- Zantive, on 02/24/2009, -0/+10I've actually found Apple.com complicated in some places, and have had difficulty finding certain areas.
- puma, on 02/24/2009, -2/+12exactly
- Nouman6, on 02/24/2009, -5/+13http://www.wilsonminer.com/ - guy who made the apple.com look as it does today.
- gogog0, on 02/24/2009, -16/+23spare me
- franklymister, on 02/24/2009, -0/+7A site the size of Apple.com is the result of far, far more than one person.
I think the creative director who led the redesign might take issue with being told that it was the person who developed the CSS that "made apple.com look as it does today." I would expect that Wilson Miner would be a bit annoyed to see someone trying to paint that picture, as well. - Kazbaeden, on 02/24/2009, -1/+7As pretty as they are, giant half Mb images on main pages don't help people with slower connection speeds. Then again, I suppose Apple assumes if you're in the market for a Mac you can afford something more than dial up.
- mikesoba, on 02/24/2009, -0/+6I've ordered my first mac, awaiting delivery, and I've found the site difficult to navigate
- Daniel591992, on 02/24/2009, -3/+9How cool is it to be able to add Apple.com to your portfolio
- zuiquan, on 02/24/2009, -1/+5I absolutely cannot stand using apple.com. And I'm actually a bit of an apple fan. The website is pretty but it can suck it.
- puma, on 02/24/2009, -2/+6don't ignore the balls
- inactive, on 02/24/2009, -3/+7All macsterbation aside, it's a well made site.
- 2of8, on 02/24/2009, -0/+4One part strikes me as odd: "back to top" links. I've never found use for these. How is it faster than pressing the "home" key on your keyboard?
- Ivand, on 02/24/2009, -0/+3"On top of that, links are different colors than standard text, which is very important to usability."
NO WAI
... - Frozenpees, on 02/24/2009, -1/+4How the heck can we deem Apple.com so usable if all the videos on it are based on the clunky Quicktime. Why can't they use flash videos? Even Silverlight beats Quicktime in terms of what it can do
- Eminemdrdre00, on 02/24/2009, -1/+4His website is very clean...lots of white, and very little text.
- virtualonliner, on 02/24/2009, -1/+3http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archi ...
I am no Microsoft hater, but with competitors like this, I do not think you have too high a bar to achieve to begin with. That does not of course mean that Apple is not good in usability. - buckrogers1965, on 02/24/2009, -3/+5The myth of apple usability. Really, they aren't that good. I frankly despise the ipod and itune interface. And as far as a phone goes... all I need is a dial pad... It's a phone. If it dials and I can talk to other people that is perfect. Doing even one thing more than that is a useless distraction.
- birch25, on 02/24/2009, -8/+10I really like Apple's website. It's simple and navigation is generally straightforward (the store is a little off when looking for products not made by Apple themselves). Apple is good at design; that's about the only thing most people can agree on.
- DefiniteFail, on 02/24/2009, -0/+2Digg him down all you want.
Quicktime is one of the few programs I refuse to install on my computer because of bloat, and pure annoyance. Qucktime lite is the closest thing I have to watching anything .mov. I deem any site that uses that software, they either convinced by apple, or just don't know anything. - nicksilvestri, on 02/24/2009, -0/+2only apple...
- jakem1, on 02/24/2009, -0/+2Agreed 100%. In fact I logged in specifically to make this comment.
Quicktime is a virus and I also refuse to have it (or any other Apple crapware) installed on my PC. As a result, Apple.com just doesn't work. - franklymister, on 02/24/2009, -0/+2z -
Hyperbole is one thing. Not understanding what makes a web site good or bad is completely another. - harrythe3rd, on 02/26/2009, -0/+1you'll love your new mac but yes I think the iTunes store and the Apple store are a little klunky
- ionelementz112, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1Formula 401 Mac Edition?
- TeaForTillerman, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1In many ways I do agree with what you have to say. I was really disappointed with this article because it does not discuss any usability principles, but rather sounds like a little boy saying what he likes. Apple's website (much like their OS) is one of best mad UI, however, just saying that you like something has no meaning without any principles to back it up.
- Lostangel, on 02/25/2009, -0/+1This isn't even "usability"...and as far as I can tell measuring from Jacob Neilson's heuristics apple.com isn't that usable at all. In reality, apple.com has always bugged me how unusable it. This is much more of an analysis of "design" and less of "usability". Buried.
- StinkyJoe, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1Exactly how is this an "analysis"?
Ok, the Apple site is decent, but it's definetly not something to be taken as a case-study. - xCIone, on 04/15/2009, -0/+1Nice for apple
- l0tharnt, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1As someone that used to work on the Apple online store chat team, the site is pretty smooth, and doesnt overload you with data and flash adds left and right. However, I always found it funny to chat with people whos prior searches on the Apple store was for random music artists and they would complain that our store was either broken or we had a terrible music selection.
- datdamonfoo, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1It isn't, but mac fanboys have to justify their overpriced toys somehow.
- rakeshishere, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1On other side Microsoft.com works excellent on IE with its ActiveX,Silvelight technology
</s> - aduzik, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1I know. I have never once used a "back to top" link. I think they're pointless clutter.
- jakem1, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1Just because Microsoft.com sucks doesn't mean that Apple.com is great. That's a logical fallacy.
- HolyChimp, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1Wow, I was not aware the home key did that.
And to answer your question, some people aren't aware the home key does that, and on some laptops and smaller keyboards home requires pressing Fn first. - EmperorPsiblade, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1simpleton above comments on things they don't understand, news at 11.
- MightyUpsetter, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1Buy a used one or a refurb.
- franklymister, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1You're confusing style with usability. You can have both, but they aren't the same thing. Nielsen's site may be all text, and "boring" to look at, but you're not there to be impressed by the Photoshop skills of some designer, you're there to read his articles.
I'd suggest you read his response to people with your point of view, titled, "Why This Site Has Almost No Graphics"
http://www.useit.com/about/nographics.html - rebotfc, on 02/24/2009, -1/+2Nielsen's site is one of the worst designed i've ever seen. It makes my eyes bleed.
- wedges, on 02/24/2009, -2/+3its good, and it's a good example if you want to make a clear site for a lot of content. unfortunately, many of the subpages don't match up. look at the macbook and imac pages... completely different layout. yes i understand they're different products, but you'd think the presentation would be the same from consumer product to consumer product
- jakem1, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1That's true. I use Home/End all the time to navigate through websites and I hate it when I have to hit Fn to get to those keys on a laptop.
- 2of8, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1Hehe, interesting.
I've used a good number of laptop keyboards and I've never seen a home key that was "double-bound" so to say. - jakem1, on 02/24/2009, -0/+1Sure, the only reason people object to Macs is because they are too expensive. It wouldn't have anything to do with the high failure rate, the poor value for money, the restrictions you have to buy into, the vendor lock-in, etc.
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