The fact that so many developers have invested so much time into learning Amazon-specific technologies means that developers are left to deal with the problem within that worldview. Going multiple-datacenter means learning two of every technology layer.
You could solve all of these problems using standard non-amazon unix tools, technologies, and products, however Amazon has enabled a whole class of development that makes it easier to just work within their system. It's easier to just wait for Amazon to figure it out for the general case and trust them than to figure it out and implement yourself.
There are other risks with being the lone-wolf but for a lot of people, being in the herd has a certain kind of safety, despite the limitations.
Not making a judgement call on it but it is something that I have noticed with these outages.