Decaflon

If you checkout the Buy Now pill button (third one from the top left) and then check the similar "Upgrade Now" button (third from the bottom right) you'll see that even though the button background image is actually the same, the Buy Now button has a drop shadow on the text whereas the Upgrade Now button has an inner shadow on the text. Very funny.

That is hilarious. You must digg this or something. =)

Up to you man, your call since you're the prince of Digginess.

But will that iPod you use as a server be able to handle the traffic?

Great find though. I think most people never noticed this, which shows perhaps that consistency is still on a lower rung than just looking good.

Do you think this is on purpose, or just one of those things that slipped their mind? Not that it's a huge deal if it did slip their mind, but that's pretty interesting.

I would imagine this is because there's no hard standard (or at least a lax standard, or no design template) across the corporation for button design.

Given that they are "close enough for government inspection" says to me there's no overriding corporate brand standard (regarding such elements of the website), and the differing teams responsible for their particular section of the site are on their own.

This is either a really bad oversight by the folks who control the online branding or it's done purposely, given that you can see "individuality" across their products, as well.

Very cool find. I think it interesting that even though they're all different, I think anyone who's familiar with Apple could look at *any* of those buttons and say, "Those are on an Apple site."

Very interesting indeed for a company whose product line is looking more and more similar all the time. hehehe

From a thread on YC.news I created: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=57290

"Actually, the buttons are quite consistent.

For ProApps (Logic, Final Cut, Shake, et. al.) the marketing sites are black and silver. The buttons reflect that clearly. Also, the buttons will use the arrow icon.

For iApps (iTunes, iLife, iMac, et. al.) the marketing sites are lighter in color typically now in blue or grey. The buttons, again, reflect that and the use a triangle icon.

That said, each product has its own design team (which is why the buttons vary slightly) but everyone reports to a creative director (Apple Support works differently) which then reports to a marketing director so that Apple style guide is observed and the design is consistent. The iApps sites have to have explicit Jobs approval before publishing.

The International web team dynamic is also interesting. Prior to publishing, they're flown in from all over the world, put into a meeting room on campus for an entire week prior to some big event. During that time all the sites have to be localized, translated, updated, and approved in tandem to the US launch."

Wow thats a very Interesting Post.. Apple is NOT standard...

Wow, I don't remember having felt frustrated over the diversity of buttons (or having noticed it, for that matter). Great find.

The iApps sites have to have explicit Jobs approval before publishing.

That's admirable.