Here's my take. When I was a kid, yes I had the Apple II, I had HeathKit radio kits, etc. And yes we now have iPhone, iPad, etc. But folks those all have SDK's. And Linux exists now. Arduino. Mindstorms. Roomba. All kinds of electronic and computer kits for experimentation. Make magazine. Mainstream bookstores now actually have lots of geeky computer magazines and books on the shelves. And the Internet: tons of free software and documentation, all at your fingertips -- all of this quite unlike the 70's/early-80's.

So no, I don't think somehow the iPad is part of some new Dark Age. If anything, we live in a Golden Age for hackers. More so now than back then, taking into account what I cited above.