First Person: I'm Preparing for a Dot-Com Rally
COMMENTARY | Unlike the three librarians in my family, I'm not a book lover. I love my laptop and all the technological gadgets. I haven't looked up anything in an encyclopedia since 1988.
As a person who invests frequently in the stock market, I saw the recent news that Encyclopaedia Britannica stopped publishing print editions of it's encyclopedia as a positive sign for social media and technology stocks. It's just another bad sign, though, for stocks related to print media, paper and publishing.
To me, this marks the final days of print media. But I'm stocking up on technology stocks in preparation for another dot-com rally.
I'm sure some people are sad to see the end of the print era, but I'm not. I grew up reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I'd look something up in an encyclopedia when I wanted to know the correct answer. Now I look things up on the Internet, of course, not as sure whether I am actually getting the "real answer."
To me, encyclopedias are like other books that accumulate dust. I have no romantic attachments to books. I didn't sympathize with Meg Ryan's character in "You've Got Mail," who owned "The Shop Around the Corner" bookstore that was being shutdown by the mega bookstores.
As far as investing in stocks, I think it's more apparent than ever that technology stocks are here to stay. We are past the dot-com bubble of the 1990s. Now, it's no longer about speculation. Without a doubt, technology stocks are the present and the future.
For anyone who is younger than 55, it's only about digital products now - not paper products. While the paper products or print media products such as the newspaper still have an appeal for the older generation, fewer companies will cater to that niche market.
According to an article by the Associated Press, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. is focusing on its online encyclopedia.
A part of me is tempted to buy one of the final hardcover online encyclopedia that are on sale at Britannica's website for $1,395. It would just be for the sentimental value since I think books are poor investments.
I ask myself, where would I put them? I have trouble cramming all of the books we own now on our bookshelves.
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First Person: I'm Preparing for a Dot-Com Rally