Apple is not just a company, it's a cultural phenomenon

I'm writing up the latest quarterly numbers — sales of $46 billion! — and realizing (again) that in 10 or 20 years, when we look back on this decade, Apple, perhaps more than anything else, will be what we think of when we think of this era. Here is a $100-billion-plus company that just grew at a 73-percent rate. That's just not supposed to happen. Sales in this recent quarter were greater than in all of fiscal 2009. And there is nothing in sight to stop this freight train. Superlatives fall short. This is beyond dominating an industry. This is about defining an age. Apple, we are not worthy.