Agreed. I think synthesis of many facts/ideas/etc is the major advantage of the knowledge worker.
When I was getting into programming in the early 00's, most people had stacks of books that they would refer to. I was using Google (and google groups was really useful back then) and just blowing by my co-workers in knowledge and productivity. I became the go-to person simply because I could research a problem and synthesize a solution quickly.
Rainbow's End http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End by Computer Science prof Vernor Vinge tells of a future where synthesis of data is the major skillset. Interesting read.
There's something really profound here. Teaching fact memorization was necessary in the past because people didn't have those facts readily available to them where ever they went. Now that they do we should really examine the way we teach and adjust accordingly