This is exactly my train of thought. But a lot of these developers don't really mind not getting the press---these jobs do pay really well. As far as I know, for instance, C++ game engine developers or people who write powerful, scalable web servers for in-house use make quite a lot of money nowadays. It's a completely different life than the engineers working in risky, fragile startups in return for a high possible payout, but who has it better here is debatable... and a matter of personal opinion, I guess.
Still, writing about Dropbox or Facebook or Stripe or whatever is now hot is way more interesting for the journalists. However, there's no doubt that the guy who wrote nginx or the Unity team (the game engine, not the Ubuntu GUI) made a hell of an impact on the industry, too. It's just that it takes more technical expertise to actually appreciate what these guys have done. That's the reason why most of the people know Steve Wozniak (if at all) as "that guy who worked for Jobs." Not that Facebook or Dropbox or Stripe or Jobs don't deserve the praise, it's just that they've built their empires on technology that also does.
Still, writing about Dropbox or Facebook or Stripe or whatever is now hot is way more interesting for the journalists. However, there's no doubt that the guy who wrote nginx or the Unity team (the game engine, not the Ubuntu GUI) made a hell of an impact on the industry, too. It's just that it takes more technical expertise to actually appreciate what these guys have done. That's the reason why most of the people know Steve Wozniak (if at all) as "that guy who worked for Jobs." Not that Facebook or Dropbox or Stripe or Jobs don't deserve the praise, it's just that they've built their empires on technology that also does.