I don't know... I've been writing code for good twenty years (15 professionally).

First, I think it's the best time to write software since so much boring stuff can be automated. I can put my thoughts into what I'm trying to achieve instead of how. To put it otherwise, I think about big picture much more than about mundane details like dealing with particularities of a programming language.

Second, most people were using SO to solve just about any issue they had. The number of developers producing truly original code was minimal even 10 years ago.