Any kid with start up capital from mom and dad for a lemonade stand has more cash reserves than the US government. When you have negative 14 trillion going to negative 16 trillion going to negative 24(+?) trillion in 10 years (assuming rosey predictions economically and no more additional trillion dollar wars or social schemes by then) with unfunded long term obligation far in excess of 100 trillion and interest on all that already exceeding some Reagan defense budgets and Apple actually running a profitable company making things people want in a very difficult economy, is it any wonder?

While we could follow the invention chain all the way back to fire and the wheel, there is no doubt that Apple has been a game changer. They don't invent everything from a complete vaccum, but they do bring products to market that absolutely blow away anything and everything that has come before them, plus add aesthetics and ergonomics far beyond their competitive field set. Look at the tablets. The entire industry couldn't make those things work. Fail after epic fail with the occasional "meh" and yet Apple comes along and with their first try not only dominated the entire market but of course spurs wave after wave of competitive wanna be's that still can't match them. Were they first with "smart phones"? Not even close. Yet even after multipile global powerhouses had very long head starts, on their first time out they flat out dominated the entire competitive field set. Oh but they don't have the mythical "4G yet" LOL!
(not to mention: 4G is a myth (and a confusing mess) - Dec. 1, 2010 but don't tell the 4g fanboys that! lol!)

The cell phone wouldn't be here without the "bag phone" which wouldn't be here without the "car phone" etc. It all comes from somewhere else. But that's OK:

Everything is a Remix Part 3 - YouTube