Apparently David Packard of HP did: "During my sophomore year at Stanford, I remember lamenting that I had been born one hundred years too late, that all the frontiers had been conquered and that my generation would be deprived of the pioneering opportunities offered to our forebears. But in fact, we went on to make breathtaking advances in the twentieth century."

I also read in "A Team of Rivals" that President Lincoln wrote a letter as a young man lamenting the fact that he has 'missed' his opportunity to make a mark on the nation, as the "Founder Fathers had done it all" or some such.

I do think it is a common refrain of the young.

Exactly who asks this? Even my non-technical friends seem to be aware that innovations seem to be coming at a faster pace now.

The way I look at it is as follows: The set of all ideas that haven't been invented yet is infinite.