Well, I wouldn't make any generalizations about which generation is doing what. The rema patches are designed not to stretch, what you're seeing is the elastic feathered edge region stretching and that's it.

If the patch and tube stretches, as I said, you'll need a perfect bond or else. And not all tubes will give you that perfect bond even if you sand nearly through the rubber and put your best thin film on there. The Rema cement clearly is mostly solvent, so no problem with getting a thin film on there unless you deliberately just sat there pouring the glue and going on and on with a circular motion. No one here does it that way, electronic generation or not.

As for the patches getting a hole in them, I've seen this, to much surprise!
After all, with the tire's casing behind it, there's nothing but compressive force on the patch!
It is a materials problem with recent patch kits sold at large department stores like K-mart. I bought these once, in an on-the-road emergency, and will not buy square patches again because of this. The patch simply grows a bunch of cracks in the center of the patch!

Ok, lastly, on the glueless patches. I had a flat at the coffee shop last month. I still had a further mile to ride home after our 30 mile ride, so out came the glueless kit at the coffe shop table outside.
Plenty of time to do it right! We kill almost an hour over coffee!
I sanded that tube with the greatest of care. A seam was buffed down to nothing and the entire area was the perfect charcoal-black shade of fresh-cut butyl.
The repair went well using a Park patch, and I rode the bike home.
The next day, based on my years of experience, I pulled the tube out to inspect the patch.
Despite the greatest of care applying the patch, really pushing hard on it to improve the bond, the patch is failing.
There are air voids starting at the corners, working past the half-way point towards the hole, where an area of separation also exists.
The patch didn't fail, but would have. The Park patch did it's job as a temporary repair, and might have lasted years in a smaller tire that didn't allow the tube to stretch so much.

I know exactly what ya'll saying about a Rema patch being "better than it needs to be".

But there are variables beyond patching procedure that can still let you down. I use and trust Rema, but not so much trust in the tubes, since I've had these patches almost fall off during the tube installation.
And I disagree that there ever was a time when "mechanical abilities that we all had" would do anything to prevent it. I even know how to read!