3 Tech Firms for the Next 100 Years

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- With one of the world's best track records when it comes to the ability to remake itself time and time again, IBM (IBM) celebrates its centennial on Thursday, joining a list of iconic American stocks like Colgate (CL), John Deere (DE) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF), which have all out-gunned countless competitors and economic cycles to reach 100 years of age.

IBM: Tech's Golden Oldie

Though this type of lasting power inevitably has, at times, colored IBM as stodgy, slow-growing and unexciting -- especially in a sector where many investors crave a continuous stream of new consumer gadgets -- Big Blue has repeatedly reconquered tech with its own world-changing brand of innovation.

So who in tech is in for the next 100 years?

Obvious answers from our sources include Apple (AAPL) -- whose ability to innovate in consumer electronics is viewed as virtually untouchable -- and Google (GOOG), thanks to its significant investment in efficient data centers and sustainability (not, as you might think, its core search business).

But what about the next generation of young tech companies -- those that have recently gone public or are speculated to do so in the near-term? It wasn't so easy. Most of the hot Internet companies popular with investors earned a thumbs down from our sources.

No one we spoke to expected notable social networkers LinkedIn (LNKD), Twitter or Pandora (P) to last more than 10 years, although Groupon received slightly higher praise.

"It's an interesting gimmick," said Pund-IT principal analyst Charles King. "I'd give them two decades tops."

Read on for the three young tech firms likely to be around 100 years from now.

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