Not content to have assimilated the iPhone, is the Borg-like Wal-Mart now looking to ? Well, that's what Ben Reitzes, an analyst with Barclays Capital, would have you believe.

Now, the thought of a premium brand like the Mac being pushed through a high-volume retailer with a logo that looks suspiciously like may lead you to some uncomfortable analogies. But all you have to do is look back to . It's simple: its stores are where Apple's stores aren't. Apple Stores are located in higher-income areas with higher population densities, Wal-Mart's stores are located where you can make a buck by driving mom-and-pop stores out of business.

If Apple wants to reach as many people as possible, partnering with Wal-Mart is a good strategy, uncomfortable biology-based analogies be damned.