The term high tech refers to technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology. (There is also an architectural style known as high tech.)
There is no specific class of technology that is high tech — the definition shifts over time — so products hyped as high tech in the past may now be considered low tech or obsolete. This vague definition has led to marketing departments describing nearly all new products as high tech. Today, appliances and devices that incorporate advanced computer electronics are often considered "high tech".
In a search of the best New York Times articles, the first occurrence of the phrase "high tech" occurs in a 1950s story advocating "atomic energy" for Europe: "...Western Europe, with its dense population and its high technology..." The twelfth occurrence, in 1968, is, significantly, in a story about Route 128, described as Boston's "Golden Semicircle":