Technology companies are an entirely different animal than they were before the dot-com bubble burst. For example, no longer does the balance of the free world hang on every word uttered by Cisco (CSCO) or Sun Micro (JAVA).

In addition, stock prices have, almost without exception, come back down to earth. A quick gander at both Cisco and Sun reveals that each is trading at a fraction of their all-time highs.

However, just because the glory days are long gone doesn’t mean the group should necessarily be avoided - or that an eventual comeback isn’t in the cards. On the contrary, there may be some opportunity here, thanks to the number of greenbacks some of the big names are holding

For example, a recent USA Today article rightly points out that Cisco Systems sported more than $29 billion in cash/equivalents and investments as of January 24. In other words, it has the means to pick up promising smaller ventures - and, when the economy does start humming again, it’ll be ready to rock and roll.

A quick gander at some other one-time high flyers reveals the following:
 

• Intel (INTC): More than $8 billion in cash/equivalents and short-term investments as of September 27, 2008.
  
  
• Microsoft (MSFT): More than $20 billion in cash/equivalents and short-term investments as of December 31, 2008.
  
  
• IBM (IBM): More than $9.7 billion in cash and equivalents at September 30, 2008.
  

So what are the opportunities out there?

Contrary to popular belief, new ideas are indeed popping up all the time - and some are even getting funded. Mark Heesen, of the National Venture Capital Association, told USA Today that early-stage investing "will be higher in 2009 as VCs make smaller bets -- $250,000 to $500,000 -- on start-ups in Internet-related services and medical devices.”

My point here: Cash/equivalents are the big wild card. It gives these companies the opportunity to potentially pick up solid tech on the cheap. And even if opportunities to scoop up good companies at low prices doesn’t arise, the cash could be used elsewhere (for stock buybacks and/or dividends, for example).

The bottom line here, folks, is that tech companies aren’t sitting on the high ground they were a decade ago. But there's a lot of potential value in those fat pocketbooks - value I think investors may be overlooking.

Just my 2 cents - and what I think is a silver lining on an otherwise depressing trading day.