While Steve Jobs was doing his keynote yesterday, Apple quietly introduced a new version of their web site with a new style and lots of AJAX.

One of the most interesting bits is what they did to the online Apple Store. They've gotten rid of the usual pagination; instead, they basically have a big empty grid and load the products as they're needed.

As an example, load the Software page under Mac Accessories. (I can't do a direct link, unfortunately.) You'll load a page with a grid of programs on it. If you scroll, it'll seem like the grid is already full of hundreds of programs--but if you grab the thumb and yank it way down the list, you'll see a spinning "wait" icon in each box for a couple seconds.

The trick is that it's not only loading the current screenful; it's also loading about half a screen above and below. That makes the scrolling look seamless. Very clever, really. I might want to reuse the technique...