Techies have long been the subject of jokes, but has the tech world arrived?  Today, Fortune listed the top 50 companies with the best reputations.  In the top 10 were 4 popular tech companies: Apple (1), Google (2), Amazon.com (7), and Microsoft (9).  The top 50 includes a number of other tech companies.

Tech gadgets are mainstream, and even teens are impressed by cool things such as iPads and Android tablets.  Many of the leading tech companies have self-made billionaires at the helm.  Has there ever been a cooler time to be a techie?

And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to attract more women to the software industry if it’s now cool to be a geek.