Market capitalization smackdown, Apple-Dell grudge match edition

Michael Dell, in 1997:

...at the Gartner Symposium and ITxpo97 here today, the CEO of competitor Dell Computer added his voice to the chorus when asked what could be done to fix the Mac maker. His solution was a drastic one.

"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders," Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives.

January 13, 2006: Apple Passes Dell's Market Cap

Steve Jobs, the same day:

On Friday, apparently savoring the moment, Mr. Jobs sent a brief e-mail message to Apple employees, which read:

"Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell.

Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today.

Steve."

Understated gloating, the best kind...

The best comment I've seen in relation to this satisfying turn of events was on digg.com (a site I keep hearing raves about, though its supposed awesomeness remains hidden to me):

Digesting some sort of head garment might be in order.

  Macintosh