It's corporate earnings season, and yesterday Apple reported another stunning quarter--although iPad sales were a bit lower than expected, and shares declined after hours nevertheless. But who cares: Apple shares have careened to over $ 300 in value in recent months, and there are just under a billion of them out there. What that means is that as of now, Apple (AAPL) is flirting with being a company worth over $ 300 billion. And what's more, some analysts suggest there is still quite a lot of upside. This shouldn't only be of interest to investors. It's of far broader political and cultural significance. You see, Apple is currently the second most valuable private company in the world--second, that is, to Exxon Mobil (XOM), which is currently worth about $ 338 billion.
There couldn't be a more stark contrast between the new economy and the old than the comparison of these ...
