My opinion, for what it's worth:
There are a couple of more positive ways to look at it.
For all us old timers (or newbies to the scene who are as enthralled by the "golden age" as we are), there are infinitely more ways for us to hear older bands who slipped through the cracks back then than ever before, so some of these old groups may actually get some reward from the work they put in back in the day, from reissues, reformations & the like.
Modern bands don't seem to be having too much trouble finding a market for their "product", as there is and will always be a young audience for rebellious loud music.
It's not really meant for us anyeay is it?
It's made and marketed with the youth in mind, not the young at heart.
If some of those kids then look into the music's history they will then encounter the classics of the past, and if they like those, will dig a little deeper.
Wouldn't it be great to think that vapid pish like Limp Bizkit or Papa Roach could act as a "gateway drug", which might then lead some to discover eventually the mastery of Cirith Ungol?
That thought would likely be enough to make Fred Durst's hair fall out...oh, wait...
Trust me, these kids are educating themselves too. Our band's guitar player runs his own rehearsal/recording studio and a lot of thes kids who rehearse down there are in "Metal" bands, and yes, a lot of the stuff they play is nonsense which is totally derivative of whatever is currently "hip".
But when you get talking to them, you find out that they know about Randy Rhoads, classic Metallica, Maiden & Slayer, Sabbath and the like, and when i ask them why their music doesn't reflect that, the answer i get most often is that "we're not good enough to play that type of stuff yet, we're just starting out".
So they do appreciate the quality & difficulty of the classics, but they play the stuff they play because they're thrilled that they CAN play that.
I dunno about you guys but i find that really encouraging.
And yes, i always try to tip them off about some other bands they should investigate, most of the time they come back & and say they're into it, and who else can they check out.
Sorry, i'm getting off topic here slightly.
In summing up: there's plenty of ways for us to find more "old gold" if we don't like a lot of what's out there now, so many happy years of unearthing buried treasure lie ahead, but there's a bright future for the scene in the new generation too.
