Remember when everyone kept saying that Apple was circling the drain? Remember Gil Amelio? Remember the beige boxes of yesteryear? No one could possibly have predicted that one day Steve Jobs would return to the company he helped found and bring it to a place of surpassing prominence. However, the numbers don't lie: Apple's stock closed today at $317.60 billion dollars, which is a hair over the $316.80 billion that results if you combine the shares of Microsoft and Intel. That's right: combined, Intel and Microsoft still come up short.

Of course, we're talking about Wall Street, which plays fast and loose with actual numbers, but it is a sobering milestone for the once-beleagured company. Will we see this number at Monday's WWDC? Who wants to take bets? At the same time, however, we're reminded of an apocryphal parable concerning a fiddler named Nero and the once-proud Roman Empire.

We're not trying to be wet blankets -- we are living the "Mac life", after all -- but this sort of meteoric rise typically balances out with some sort of corresponding fall. Apple's on top right now, but its competitors are close behind and foaming at the mouth, waiting for the slightest misstep. There's Steve's health to consider as well. If he left the company, could anyone possibly fill his shoes?

Of course, it's the nature of the business that no one can really see what's coming; see the opening of this article for proof. We just think it's best not to pay too much attention to hype, and let the products speak for themselves. We will, therefore, resist the urge to print out this article and parade it around downtown in front of the non-Mac-using businessmen in their stuffy suits and ties. Capitalism works for the artists too, y'all. Greed may be good, but revenge is sweet.

Via MacDailyNews