The state of the tech nation

The current economic crisis, crunch, squeeze or dare we say it, recession, has been compared pretty significantly to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The comparisons are there to be seen: banking collapse, job losses, housing woes; there is a doom and gloom from every corner of the free trading world.

However in technology, I am yet to be convinced we are feeling the full effects.

On the same day the world stock markets took one of their biggest hits, eBay announced it had completed the acquisition of 'Bill Me Later', an online payment and credit facility. I must admit the irony of the timing was quite incredible.

And eBay is not alone, Facebook has raised $496m in funding with $240m being pumped into the social network this year alone. Digg.com announced a third round of funding to the tune of $28.7M; the list goes on.

Of course, we don't really know how well prepared these companies are for hard times, but funding rounds are an interesting guideline to the state of the tech nation.

Even in the SME and start up market things are pretty buoyant. Technology blog TechCrunch has just successfully hosted TechCrunch50, a Dragons' Den-style conference aimed at introducing the best start-ups to the most influential investors. The eventual winner was Yammer, a micro blogging service for business that walked off with a cheque for $50,000 and countless venture capital offers.

The already cash-rich green tech market is also becoming richer and awash with investors. Driven by consumers looking at technology for answers. While General Motors is feeling the pinch, Tesla Motors, the first car manufacturer in Silicon Valley and bleeding edge pioneer of electric sports cars, is struggling with demand. Again it's an interesting angle on the current crunch.

While there is clearly cash to go around in the corporate world, the consumer market is also keeping its head above the water.

Tech companies producing physical goods will obviously fare differently in this difficult climate, but we still have an insatiable appetite for consumer gadgets. It's just that we expect lower prices from even high end brands. A quick trip to Amazon.co.uk will show you the top selling laptops are all low-end, cheap Netbooks. Apple, the traditional paragon of high price tech, is also considering big price cuts, if the rumours are to be believed. The crunch is clearly having an effect, but sales are still up.

The boom in the current bust however will come from companies selling digital assets. The low manufacturing and distribution cost of a downloadable movie is infinitely more profitable than producing a physical DVD. It also self-sustaining - suddenly while that £15 trip to the cinema could be considered a luxury, a £3.50 download from iTunes is considered the very essence of frugality (and it's greener too).

So while things may look rocky in the high street and at the bank, the tech world has a few reasons to smile...for the moment.

Ben Dyer is director of development at ecommerce supplier Actinic.