We raved about companies with tiny revenues and no prospect of earnings as the harbinger of a new world, when the newly rediscovered reality was firmly rooted in old truths. This was asking if earnings mattered. Of course they do. Investors don't put money into enterprises unless they expect to make money at some point. Some companies get sold before they make a dime.
Some investors sell their holdings to greater fools.
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.