Older innovators

/. (slashdot) folks are discussing "Age and Great Invention" on how innovators are getting older.

I can vouch for it, sort of. My first patent I've ever applied for was when I was in my mid-30's. At my current job, I'm in the process of applying for 3 patents over the past 10 months. So, total of 4 patents in the past 5 years.

I personally think it takes more effort to come up with new ideas, especially if the innovation is not some trivial extension of existing ideas (which many companies like to do). So much innovation has taken place in computers and related fields over the 40 years such that new ideas are harder to come by without repeating some previously invented ideas.