No, that is not the case. I've been a developer for nearly 20 years. I have a number of LOB applications under my belt that took years to develop. I have seen it all, but the last two years it's been a struggle.
I agree that it may have to do something with the isolation of freelancing on remote projects via the web, the rapid changes in development as a whole, and information overload.
I definitely agree that there are alot of things out there these days. It's difficult to keep up with those trends. But in my experience solid fundamentals translate well to any "shiny new object". The interfaces are different, and sometimes there's something really innovative about new approaches.
IMO in order to maintain a sanity about it all, you really need to dig into "what is this shiny object really accomplishing". This can help change one's perspective from "I need to learn it all to stay on top of new trends", to the realization that "There are really only a handful of truly innovative things happening behind all the shiny objects".
I agree that it may have to do something with the isolation of freelancing on remote projects via the web, the rapid changes in development as a whole, and information overload.