I agree that it isn't "sexy", in the same way that SpaceX or Google are "sexy", but that doesn't make it "not a technology company". There's plenty of sexy tech companies out there doing fuck-all for anybody but collecting nice VC paychecks.
If you're making the same argument as Peter Thiel, that there's a lot more 1-N (incremental) innovation now than there is 0-1 (brand-new) innovation, I agree and I think that sucks. I think that's why many people (including myself) cheerlead for Elon - he's actually leading companies doing cool sci-fi-style innovation.
I live in the North of England, not exactly an urban hub.
As soon as somebody invents matter teleportation I'm sure we'll get a better service. For now, I'll keep considering amazon a best in class service for their scale. And it's definitely a technology company.
That is a very modern american trend. In the past, citizens were proud of inventions. Germans were proud of BMW cars. Americans were proud of American rockets. The Japanese were proud of their electronics. Now Americans are proud of having the best mall, the most profitable distribution platforms. Ok. Cultural values changes. Maybe I'm old but I would rather be proud of technological innovation than marketplace innovation.