I think you're missing the bigger picture
SpaceX and similar efforts aren't supposed to be about being "spectacular". Quite the contrary; They are actually supposed to be about being "routine" and as unexciting as possible. Commercial users of space aren't at all interested in "exciting". They wish to provide useful and reliable services and make money. There's no long-term profitability in "exciting".
Remember, NASA's Shuttle program wasn't meant to be "exciting" either. Quite the contrary; it was intended (or sold as a means) to make space flight as routine as taking an airline flight. (A mission for which it was oversold and incapable of fulfilling)
It is true that people are of short attention spans and are quickly and easily distracted. But even though that characteristic may be viewed as a shortcoming, it also represents opportunity. After all, it's entrepreneurs looking for the next "exciting" thing that often pushes technology forward and ultimately improves our lives. There was a time when having a radio was very exciting. And then television was exciting. Then a color TV. Then a VCR. Personal computers were very exciting. A mere 20 years ago, owning a cell phone was exiting. Now, almost everyone in America can have a smartphone that does all those things in the palm of your hand; exciting enough that people camp out in lines to get the latest model. Eventually smartphones will become pedestrian and we'll move on to the next "exciting" thing. It's not all bad.
