I don't think it's nitpicking. Sometimes it seems like if a Macbook Pro and the latest JS framework on top of Ruby or some functional language isn't involved, especially if the social lives of 20-somethings or 'disruptive' re-treads of ages-old B2B 'services' aren't involved, it's off the radar of the Bay Area.

That said, I don't think it's unreasonable to be skeptical of claims that non-software companies are "technology companies." My stints in non-software companies left a sour taste in my mouth with respect to their understanding of how our world is changing, specifically with how important software is for the development of other new technologies. They put software development in the same bin as other IT work like laying network cable or housing data servers, when it really belongs in the same bin as other technology-driven research and engineering departments. So the 'respect' argument (inferring here) you're making kind of cuts both ways, I think.

Certainly cuts both ways. That said, my personal experience is somewhat opposite of yours. I worked at a:

    * Printer manufacturer (TC def: non-tech). Software is at R&D.
    * Chip machine maker (TC def: non-tech). Software is at R&D.
    * Online marketing consultancy (TC def: tech). Software is with the IT department.

All that said, people at the non-software technology firms listed above do tend to have a certain disdain for software, mostly driven by a complete misunderstanding of what kind of complexity software people actually deal with. After all, all the physicists and mechanical engineers have written some while loops too, in their days. How difficult can it be? Anyone who understands if and while can write software, right? :-)

Still, at least they considered software technology, too, and not "IT services".

By non-tech they obviously mean non-IT, but everybody hates IT, so "tech" sounds cooler.

Monsanto, at least, still seems like an IT-based software company to me. I mean they have their hand in other things too, as large companies tend to, but some of their divisions[1] could easily be a YC-backed startup in nature.

[1] http://www.fieldscripts.com/