Specialists are everywhere. It may be a person that focuses on a particular technology, a particular product, or a particular use case. That kind of focus is good and is needed. But a world only of specialists is not a good thing.
Some of the most successful people I’ve seen have a broad array of knowledge. They definitely are not experts in everything, but they know enough to get around a little bit. What they don’t know, they can look up or route. They have specialties, but they also know a little about a lot of things. They know enough to recognize patterns and remember history. You may think jack of all trades, master of none, but they do have some areas of focus that they can lead in. But they have had a varied past without purging their previous lives. Those people can apply concepts from other areas to the problem at hand.
It has been mentioned by others that nothing we go through is new, it is just history repeating itself. For example, many of the recent advances in personal and mid-range computing are lessons learned from the mainframe 30 years ago. There are definitely new ways in which technology can be applied. People who recognize patterns and remember history have an advantage in determining those best ways to apply. Combining invention with insight, meaning how to apply the invention, is the way of innovation.
Broad knowledge also applies to understanding the context of any situation. The more you know about how another part of the system works (i.e., related component, customer process, etc.), the more optimal your part can fit with the rest of the whole.
Broad knowledge also applies to careers in general. You should get to know something about all the parts of a product life cycle: customer requirements, design, development, testing, support, sales, etc. This means working with all different kinds of people in different circumstances. With diversity comes capability.
Particular skills combined with a broad foundation is key to success.