Apple (AAPL, $190.80) is the world's most valuable company, with a market value that is climbing ever closer to $1 trillion. It is among the world's most recognizable and valuable brands, and it has grown from a tiny computer upstart into a consumer electronics behemoth with roughly 500 retail stores in prime locations worldwide.

And investors know Apple a wealth-generating machine whose performance of the past few decades has made it one of the best stocks of all time.

Apple has survived more than 40 years in a fiercely competitive industry by taking risks. It has been rewarded at times with game-changing products that have sold literally billions of dollars. But from time to time, Apple has made some spectacular faceplants.

For every iPhone that consumers line up for, there has been a Newton gathering dust in a drawer.

Here is a look at 10 Apple products that changed everything, as well as 10 that flamed out ... and even a few more current products that the jury still hasn't ruled on.

Changed Everything: Macintosh

Courtesy Apple

The original Macintosh, released in 1984, was an all-in-one computer, and the first mainstream personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface for ease of use. It was launched with Ridley Scott's infamous "1984" TV commercial that ran during Super Bowl XVIII.

The computer featured an integrated 9-inch black-and-white CRT display and a Motorola 6800 processor, and it bundled with MacPaint and MacWrite applications. The original Macintosh sold for $2,495.

While sales are hardly comparable to what Apple products post nowadays, the Macintosh sold roughly 70,000 units within three months, and hit an estimated 280,000 units in its first year. That wasn't enough to prevent cheaper, MS-DOS based PCs from dominating the market, but the Macintosh became a trend-setter that was especially popular in the education and publishing markets.

The Macintosh was the first in a long line of Apple Mac computers and helped to popularize the all-in-one form factor Apple still offers today in the iMac.

Changed Everything: iPhone

Courtesy Apple

No other product has transformed Apple - or propelled Apple stock - more than the iPhone.

When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, cell phones were a 1.15 billion-unit-per-year industry dominated by Nokia. Smartphones were beginning to gain in popularity, led by Research In Motion - now BlackBerry (BB) - but were largely business-focused.

Everything changed once Apple released the touchscreen iPhone. Consumers jumped on the smartphone bandwagon, mobile apps turned into a huge business and carriers began subsidizing smartphones. People lined up for days before a new iPhone launch, and RIM went into a tailspin.

That first iPhone started at