NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you follow the tech space, it must make you want to vomit seeing Google (GOOG) - Get Report slum out to the lifted skirt and perfumed inner thigh of low prices.

Outside of the space, you have posers such as

Bank of America

(BAC) - Get Report

not too proud to admit that they're posing

.

It's an embarrassing shame.

But how can you blame a big bank for not thinking like a tech company when actual tech companies

aren't even thinking like tech companies?

That's the quandary we're in.

People often look at me with dullish, blank stares when I rip Google or suggest that

dying breeds

such as

J.C. Penney

(JCP) - Get Report

and

Best Buy

(BBY) - Get Report

need to clean house, hire young-minded, forward-thinking hot shots with NO retail experience and start thinking like tech companies.

So many people don't get it. That's stunning, given the reality

the world's top tech company

floats in your face every single day, no matter who you are or where you go.

Starbucks

(SBUX) - Get Report

took the notion of thinking like a tech company, modernized it for all (even if "all" have not caught on) and adapted it to the consumer/retail/hospitality space it dominates.

If I'm nothing else, I'm honest. I'm not afraid to say,

yes, this is weird, but it's what I'm doing and how I feel when I do it

.

I used to go to Starbucks maybe twice a month. Ever since downloading its mobile app, I go every single day. There's no question that the mobile app drives this habit.

It makes me feel cool. Like an early adopter. I'm not the dolt still writing a check at the counter. And I imagine, based on the number of downloads, that I'm not having some independent experience.

However, I also realize, based on the number of people staring in wonder when I pay with my smartphone that we're on the cusp of a Starbucks- and

Square

-led revolution. And I live in Southern California, a hotbed for connected, mobile freaks. Wait till Starbucks unleashes this beast for real on Anywhere, USA.

We keep waiting for a company to come along and do it the way Steve Jobs did it at

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

. That's the theme

the media decided to drive home now

, all of a sudden, after it became somewhat obvious:

Can anybody do anything without Steve Jobs!?

Yet, Starbucks only receives a quiet roar's worth of accolades.

It should be big news that the company is using mobile to drive traffic and sales as well as cultivate loyalty. Major news. It's all so Jobsian.

Great premium products. Loyal customers. Ubiquity. Strong marketing. Unique retail experience. A fearless leader with a great -- and relatively small -- team harnessing technology (be it a software meets hardware ecosystem or the forefront of the mobile phenomenon) to drive retail traffic, engagement and repeat sales.

Few companies -- in or out tech -- do this and do it well.

At the time of publication, the author was long AAPL

.

Follow @rocco_thestreet

This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Rocco Pendola is

TheStreet's

Director of Social Media. Pendola's daily contributions to

TheStreet

frequently appear on

CNBC

and at various top online properties, such as

Forbes

.