And... the expected Apple fan flames have begun. Pixar, iPod and iPad didn't have anything like the iPhone's level of profitability. I lump the latter in with the iPhone because the current implementations are one platform (no one calls it, ahem, "intellectually dishonest" to talk about "windows" profitability instead of "windows home" vs. "windows server" numbers).

But there's no need, so I'll simplify. If all Apple can do with that $100B is generate another Pixar, Macintosh, iPod or iPad, it is not enough and they should give the money back. To make it seem like a good bet, they need to produce another iPhone. And they can't, because no one can do that at will. We'll see another hit like that in 15 years or so if we're lucky.