There was a much higher ratio of creators to users in the computer world in the 60s. But there wasn't the sheer volume of innovation there has been since the masses got involved - even though there's a lower ratio of creators, the absolute number of creators is far higher - hell, we're even on a site that is designed to do nothing but cater for this influx of creators, and it's getting one application a minute.
The fewer people that have exposure to tinkering, the lower the number of innovators overall.