Actually the "noobs" have it a HELL of a lot easier then we did back in the day. There are some excellent free 3d applications now, and some amazingly cheap ones that just plain old never existed "back in the day".

Downside though is that everything has been made SO much easier to do, that many people won't bother to really learn anything at all, if it means there's some effort involved.

Kind of a very odd situation, really.. better, easier, cheaper tools, but less incentive to play with them.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.