Here's some good news to warm Nick Farrell's heart. Apple has managed to eclipse Microsoft in terms of market capitalization.

For years techies have been bashing Redmond as the monopoly prone, big bad wolf of the industry, but now it can only bow and move out of Apple's way. As of yesterday, Apple's market cap surpassed $222 billion, while Microsoft was 'just' $219 billion. This not only makes Apple the largest tech outfit on the planet, but also one of the biggest companies in the US. In fact, the only US business with a higher market value is Exxon Mobil, which is worth $281 billion. Drilling for oil and raping Alaska seems to be working out for them.

Interestingly, ten years ago Apple's market value was $15.6 billion, while Microsoft was worth $556 billion. Although Steve Ballmer did a rather good job steering Microsoft through antitrust cases and a world of other issues, Apple managed to squeeze ahead thanks to consumer electronics. Cupertino has raked in billions on iPods, iPhones and it will probably do the same with iPads. Microsoft, on the other hand, has not had much luck in the consumer segment. Its music players and recently introduced phones could not compete with Apple's products on equal terms and the only bright spot is the Xbox, which has finally started to pay dividends.

Although we are not very fond of Apple, mainly due to its pricing policies and its love of closed platforms, we must note that the company has pulled of an unprecedented feat and congratulations are in order. Steve Jobs has done it, again, and the charismatic CEO probably has a lot more to do with Apple's success than design or engineering.