I came up reading and usually rereading, again and again, all the usual suspects of the past. Used the analog internet (rotary dial landline telephone, Shotgun News and The Gun List) quite heavily too.
Old or new, there's really nothing different, as long as you keep investing in your education and continue to learn. One thing I picked up on pretty quick at work as technology worked its way into everything was, the old ways worked, and the new ways could and did make life easier, and if you were a follower of Bruce Lee (another dead guy from the past who was on to something
), you learned that old and new could be blended together and take you to the next level ahead of those who chose only one way or the other. I don't see any difference there in anything either, including firearms, their accessories, and the techniques used.
The trick will always be, learn as much as you can about as much as you can, and take from all that, what is useful to you, make it yours, and always continue to move forward.
Lots of the old ways work, and work well, but things also change, and if you don't keep up, you'll stagnate, and get left behind.
Cooper is a prime example of what is good about the past, and what isn't so good about getting stuck there. He was innovative and at the time, a lot of us jumped right on that train and went for the ride. Some of us got off when we saw things and others progressing elsewhere, and moved forward, while others are still on the Copper train, in an endless circle, stuck in the past.
Following the Bruce Lee philosophy, you take what you learned from him that is still relevant to you, and discard what isn't and keep moving forward. And that goes for anything and everything else.
Ayoob is the same way, and I think a lot if not most of his stuff is still relevant, but again, things change, and you need to continue to learn and keep up to know what to keep and what to discard.
With any of this, young or old, you only know what you know. Older guys have a bit of an edge there, at least if they have been paying attention and doing their homework, and can have things learned in the past to draw on, where the younger guys don't, but just because you didn't learn the "old ways" of doing things, doesn't mean you don't know whats what either, and old or young, if you don't continue to keep up, all you will know is the old ways.