You have a map for that, Verizon? Okay, well I see your map, and raise you an app. 100,000 apps, actually. Apple has announced that developers have created over 100,000 apps for the App Store, the largest applications store in the world. Apple did not comment on whether they’re including the myriad “fart” apps in that number.

From the release:

iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 countries can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. App Store users have downloaded well over two billion apps, continuing to make it the world’s most popular applications store.

And it likely will be for quite some time. Apple has done two smart things, here, both of which their competitors haven’t figured out. First, they made the cell phone appeal to people who otherwise wouldn’t need one, and certainly not at the iPhone prices/rates. Before I bought my first iPhone, I was using a Virgin Mobile “pay as you go” plan on a $20 phone. It’s all I needed or wanted. But the 100,000 available apps on the iPhone has turned the device into something that never leaves my side. I’ve got books, music, games, health info, work schedules, hockey schedules, voice files, recipes, movies and much, much more at my fingertips at any given time. Some smart phones can handle some of that, but not at the volume the iPhone can, and not with Apple’s ease of use.

Second, via the iPod touch, Apple made all of these available to users who don’t have an iPhone. This creates much greater demand for iDevice applications, which leads to more developers, which makes the devices that much more appealing to consumers. Is there a non-cellular companion to the Pre? Will there be for the Droid? It’s unlikely, so even if those devices do start to rival iPhone sales, they simply won’t be able to withstand with the one-two punch of the iPhone + iPod touch. Therefore, I don’t see that they’ll have an app selection as robust as what we see in the iTunes App Store.

Of course, the other hidden benefit to the iPod touch is that when it comes time for owners to upgrade their cell phones, they may as well consider the iPhone if it’s available to them. They already have all those apps for their iPod touch, so why not move everything onto one device?

100,000 is an impressive number, but iPhone and iPod touch owners don’t need me to tell them that. They already know they’ve got “...an app for everything.”

Even farting.