By Anindita Basu
Thebeatles.com is the first official web site of The Beatles. It
features the twenty-seven singles that are present on the recently
released Beatles1 album. The site is quite elegant. There are two
versions, one with all of the frills of Shockwave and Flash and another
simple one, although both contain exactly the same information and
similar navigations. The site simply contains information about each
song-when it topped which charts, recording and release dates, live
performances, movies in which the song was featured-then has audio
of the song, a video of the band playing in either Real or WindowsMedia
(and one can select for bandwidth), photos, album covers and publicity.
The site is just simple, straightforward and complete. There are
no real distractions, except two links to external sites and a place
to send Beatles e-cards. The links are to the latest information regarding
the album, such as the fact that there is a website for The Beatles
now and one can join a mailing list for updates and a site where one
can buy the album.
The site is compartmentalized by song, so all of the links to information
related to a song appears when one chooses a song. Every song has
the same types of links, although not all of them are complete. There's
a new features section, for example, that hasn't been filled for every
song yet, but the design is done in such a way that the user knows
if the information is present before selecting the link.
The Beatles' first website is a success, as they have always been.
It is focused, elegant and fun, with lots of pictures and footage
for any fan to enjoy.