There's advantages and disadvantages to older coders. The biggest disadvantages are that you have a family and responsibilities, and your health insurance is a lot more expensive.
If you're a great programmer, who's interested in learning new technologies, that's not such a big deal. But honestly, your "when google is one click away" comment is not signaling those qualities.
Actually... if you do things right from the beginning, things like money, health insurance and family responsibilities are much more of a factor on your 30's than on your 50's (If you plan right..)
With reference to Googling stuff comment.. are you saying that you never use reference sources?
IMHO, When you have a large breath of knowledge that you need to use, it makes no sense to memorize it.
If I am supporting up a framework that uses spring, I refer to the docs once or twice, then it stays with me for the duration of the project.. six months later I am building an app using Python,mplayer,ffmpeg & wxPython and for the life of me there is now way I can tell you straight-off-my-head how to configure the hibernate SqlMapClient-what's his face thingy! give me 5 minutes, I'll look it up and i'll be done & tested in 20 mins.
I could go on and on on this to technologies that have not been used since before most of you where born.. (how many of you remember IRQ14 ?)
The point is: Some things are timeless (vi ?) and I know them solid.. some others, I refer to use and let go.
I am totally curious.. How about you guys? Do most people remember api specific stuff for ever ?
Regarding API docs, I'm certainly not saying I have all APIs memorized, or that you're approach is bad. Its just that the comment you posted sounds like past employers have asked you to learn things and you've resisted. I suppose its actually the "I don't see the value" part of that sentence that bothers me more. Also, I was saying that it sends a bad signal, not that it necessarily means you're not intellectually curious.
I absolutely agree that some things are timeless, and the breadth of knowledge an experienced programmer has is their primary advantage. It just seemed obvious, and you were more interested in disadvantages.
Anyway, just some constructive criticism from a 27-year old business owner. Best of luck.
If you're a great programmer, who's interested in learning new technologies, that's not such a big deal. But honestly, your "when google is one click away" comment is not signaling those qualities.