Fisher Investments on Technology

Chapter 1. TECHNOLOGY BASICS

Technology is a word jammed with meanings. And through the years, it's been philosophized more than you might imagine. Martin Heidegger regarded technology not just as a mechanical process, but a "bringing forth," a ". . . mode of revealing. Technology comes to presence in the realm where revealing and un-concealment take place . . . where truth happens" (319).

Wow! Who knew a simple guide to Tech investing could lead us to the nature of truth itself! Well, we're not going to be quite that ambitious for this book, but it is important to realize technology captures our imagination more than most types of industry. Tech is virtually omnipresent in our greatest hopes and deepest fears about civilization. For every rapturous fantasy we have about flying cars and curing diseases, there are dystopic visions of tech run amok like the Terminator or Darth Vader.

The public has a romantic relationship with technology—sometimes as spiritual and potent as religion. The last years of the 1990s are quintessential—we collectively dispensed with the notion of economic cycles altogether and declared a "new economy" on the wings of savior technology. Conversely, even today we shudder to think of the awesome power of nuclear technology, of robotic soldiers and drone planes—forces seemingly too powerful to control, capable of inducing real Armageddon.

In short, technology carries potent emotional impact—and you'll do well to remember that when investing in it. The romantic ...