Yea, a few old-timers still complain about pilots being dependent on The Magenta Line, but I would trade my paper-and-pencil flight planning and my E6B any day for a GPS moving map and ADS-B In. ADS-B alone has been a massive game-changer for traffic awareness with basically no downside (aside from cost to outfit the fleet). Modern engine management systems also allow you to fine tune your operation of the machine to a degree that was impossible to do "by ear" in the old days.
I'd liken it to automotive advancements as well. I would never even consider taking a long road trip in a carbureted classic car. Yet GA pilots are flying with the equivalent engine technology to this day. Total madness.
