A lot of past knowledge is also very available and mostly ignored. Even the most popular books about programming are read only by a tiny minority of programmers. Listening to our elders is simply not part of the current programming culture.
Most of today's books are really bad in comparison. Too long, no depth.
On the other hand the cool thing about programming is that you can get started and be productive without almost no knowledge of theory. Compare that to physics or math where anything interesting requires years of prior training.
I hope we'll find some balance where we don't lose the ability to get started quickly but still respect and study older achievements.