Appletell

Here is a great Youtube video by a person called “DoctorMacenstein” chronicling the life and times of the Apple website. Sadly, the views aren’t comprehensive (you’ll have to hit the “Wayback Machine” for that) but it is a nice walk down the Mac’s memory lane. It’s paved with wild colored CRT-based iMac’s and toilet seat shaped clamshell iBooks. The video is pretty well done, I make no promises on the Skid Row song.

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The MacBook Air news has been fairly quiet recently, apart from the fact that some MBAs are shipping already. Now, the MacBook Air has its own home on the Apple Support web site. If you’re a soon-to-be MacBook Air owner, you should definitely take a look at the User’s Guide (PDF), chime in on the forums, and figure out how to setup your MacBook Air. Or if you’re just curious about Apple’s latest notebook, you can take a read on how it works and chat in jealousy with the people that have ordered them.

There’s a lot really interesting information about the MacBook Air in the support section. I learned how to share DVDs and CDs via remote disc, even though I’m not going to buy a MacBook Air, it’s useful to know. And if you’ve got nothing to do, just waiting for that order status on the Apple Online Store to change - then this will give you something to do while you wait.

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Should you happen to land at Apple.com, you’ll find the same “There’s something in the air” banners that are currently hanging at the Moscone Center. Earlier last year, Apple used this same method at Macworld 2007 for launching the iPhone, so I’m guessing we could be seeing another product of equal brilliance. Another interesting point to note is the usage of a new font; well, at least a variant of an old font, Myriad Pro Light. Does this have anything to do with the yet-to-be announced products?

Fortunately however, the banner also states that Steve’s keynote would be broadcasted on Tuesday afternoon on Apple.com, which follows the tradition of the past few years. The QuickTime stream is usually available several hours after the keynote ends; look under the QuickTime section of Apple.com.

Read [Apple.com]

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Aside from the major redesign on Apple.com, several minor updates were also launched on Apple’s website throughout the week. The search bar is the latest item to receive the same treatment; it now has the dynamic look and feel of Spotlight on Mac OS X.

Possible results start to appear as you enter your query, just like Google Suggest. Search results are categorized into groups which can then be expanded or contracted, depending on what you wish to look at. It also stores your recent searches in the sidebar, making it convenient to search for stuff you need the most.

Unfortunately, this search doesn’t seem to work with Apple’s discussion forums, although it must be said that the forums already has some powerful search features.

Read [TUAW]

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Along with the beginning of Apple’s marketing push for Mac OS X Leopard, the company has gone ahead and re-designed their Apple.com to match the crisp new look. The navigation bar takes on a new brushed metal look, and all around things look cleaner. The Apple Store hasn’t really changed really at all, but then again it didn’t really need a face-lift yet. As weird as it sounds, the last time Apple updated their site was back in 2001 when they were marketing the new aqua look of Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah.

Site [Apple.com]

• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?
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• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008