Great analysis.

Back before I got a Mac, I'd go to Apple's web site just to look at all their redesigned pages whenever something new came out. It was beautiful looking at how they displayed their products, and the manner in which they'd move things around to display everything as prettily as possible.

Now I do have a Mac, and I have friends who do the same thing I once did. Reading Apple.com is like reading a glamorous car brochure: you get the same thrill looking at the way they present information.

apple.com is very difficult to navigate for me. It is optimized for people who are conditioned to click on large glossy pictures. Examples of good usability would be http://cr.yp.to/ or - if you are looking for a corporate example - amazon.com.

The top menu is not an Apple innovation, rather an Amazon.com innovation. During the dot-bomb era, EVERYONE ended up having one.