Yet actual profits from running businesses do matter eventually, because they are the basis of business. I don't doubt for a second that technology will ultimately lead to massive and, for the most part, positive changes in our economy and society. We're already feeling some of the beneficial impacts. Nor do I doubt that technology-related investments are smart in the long run. What I don't know is whether the current crop of companies, with a few exceptions, will be the long-range survivors in a revolution that is just beginning.
Capitalism is all about risk and excess.
People make money on new ideas, and others follow. Markets get saturated and business cycles turn down. People lose money. Just as a stopped clock is precisely accurate twice a day, markets hit equilibrium briefly on the way up and the way down, because investor sentiment is a blunt instrument. The overall trajectory trends up, but the market oscillates and always will.