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The first paragraph implies that Apple takes down the website to promote new product launches - is that... correct? Seems silly to take their website down for

The first paragraph implies that Apple takes down the website to promote new product launches - is that... correct? Seems silly to take their website down for new products.

mikestew 3y ago
Yup, try http://store.apple.com http://store.apple.com during the next WWDC keynote: "we'll be right back!". And it doesn't come back until the keynote is over. I assume that in ye olde days they were actually switching the website over with new products, or had some other reasonable technical explanation. These days I have to believe it's just for nostalgia or something.
- GeekyBear 3y ago
  Back when they used a third party CDN, I have to assume they were paranoid about uploading the details of new products to servers controlled by a third party until the keynote was already in progress.
  - etchalon 3y ago
    They still use a third party CDN.
    - GeekyBear 3y ago
      They rolled their own CDN a decade ago. > Apple’s multi-terabit, $100M CDN is live https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/07/apples-multi-terabit-100m-cdn-is-live-with-paid-connection-to-comcast/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/07/apple...
      - etchalon 3y ago
        We're talking about the website in this thread, and the website still uses Akamai. An nslookup on their domain will show you as much.
- tracerbulletx 3y ago
  It's showmanship. Drama, anticipation, and a reveal.
- MBCook 3y ago
  Also, if you’re not someone who follows Apple how would you like to buy something during the announcement of its replacement and find out an hour later? I agree with another comment here that it’s more of a showmanship thing/making it more of an event these days.
- jldugger 3y ago
  I have to assume it's to avoid the headache of cancelled orders, and ensure strong sell-through of the brand new high margin product.
  - nickpeterson 3y ago
    I’d never considered that scenario but I believe you’re spot on. I agree that it probably began as a true technical issue, but your scenario is something less obvious that would enrage a customer who just placed an expensive order.
yardstick 3y ago
It’s a hype building exercise.
GeekyBear 3y ago
It does take time for the changes to the site to propagate to all the servers in your Content Delivery Network. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network

The first paragraph implies that Apple takes down the website to promote new product launches - is that... correct? Seems silly to take their website down for new products.

mikestew 3y ago

Yup, try http://store.apple.com http://store.apple.com during the next WWDC keynote: "we'll be right back!". And it doesn't come back until the keynote is over. I assume that in ye olde days they were actually switching the website over with new products, or had some other reasonable technical explanation. These days I have to believe it's just for nostalgia or something.

GeekyBear 3y ago
Back when they used a third party CDN, I have to assume they were paranoid about uploading the details of new products to servers controlled by a third party until the keynote was already in progress.
- etchalon 3y ago
  They still use a third party CDN.
  - GeekyBear 3y ago
    They rolled their own CDN a decade ago. > Apple’s multi-terabit, $100M CDN is live https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/07/apples-multi-terabit-100m-cdn-is-live-with-paid-connection-to-comcast/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/07/apple...
    - etchalon 3y ago
      We're talking about the website in this thread, and the website still uses Akamai. An nslookup on their domain will show you as much.
tracerbulletx 3y ago
It's showmanship. Drama, anticipation, and a reveal.
MBCook 3y ago
Also, if you’re not someone who follows Apple how would you like to buy something during the announcement of its replacement and find out an hour later? I agree with another comment here that it’s more of a showmanship thing/making it more of an event these days.
jldugger 3y ago
I have to assume it's to avoid the headache of cancelled orders, and ensure strong sell-through of the brand new high margin product.
- nickpeterson 3y ago
  I’d never considered that scenario but I believe you’re spot on. I agree that it probably began as a true technical issue, but your scenario is something less obvious that would enrage a customer who just placed an expensive order.

yardstick 3y ago

It’s a hype building exercise.

GeekyBear 3y ago

It does take time for the changes to the site to propagate to all the servers in your Content Delivery Network. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network