If it makes you feel better, only on sites like HN would that ever be the case.

It seems that "tech" has come to be a colloquialism for "digital".

It is not that surprising given that the most apparent technological advance in our lifetime has been the internet.

I would be curious to see what "technology" was a colloquialism for different periods in time. My suspicion is that it would refer to the most impactful and visible innovations of that time.

Well, the word comes from the ancient Greek "τέχνη" (techne) which meant "craft" -- it basically meant creating things in the real world rather than "ἐπιστήμη" (episteme) which meant abstract knowledge, which is what philosophers were after.

But the epistomology of a word does not determine its meaning. Otherwise the art versus craft debate would be difficult to apply with its original meanings.

Wasn't agriculture the first technology?

I think “tech” is short for “information technology”, a term introduced almost six decades ago: https://hbr.org/1958/11/management-in-the-1980s

It's because none of those things are actually worth big bucks (yet). All the money is in ads (and the various baits constructed around those ads).

If and when the things you listed become wildly profitable, they'll become relevant for discussions about "careers in tech".

Where in the world did you get that obviously false notion?

CRISPR is bio-tech.

Self driving cars are overwhelmingly regarded as tech in every possible corner of the media universe. Apple, Google, Tesla, nVidia are among the frequent discussion points on self-driving, and it all ties in to AI which is another obvious tech subject.

There's a reason all of those topics are regularly discussed on HN.

I got that notion from the grandparent comment characterization of tech.