Ride quality doesn't have much to do with age. I have a real cushy new touring bike (2006), and a lively (I wouldn't call it harsh) old road bike (1987). Really, they both have excellent ride quality for doing what they're supposed to do, whether that's schlepping along with a big heavy load in the panniers or speeding along at 20+ mph. Handling is the same story - the touring bike is a bit slower, but steady as a rock, the road bike is much more maneuverable. I am more-or-less equally confident on either machine at 40 miles per hour. The 19 years between them don't seem like a big deal, especially since they're so different.
As a bike mechanic and gearhead who enjoys cycling in all its permutations, I don't quite understand where alanbikehouston and others are coming from with their claims. I say this as someone who loves vintage bicycles and finds all the gimmicky crap out there to be really frustrating - a lot of the gearhead gobbledygook obscures rather than enlightens. "Laterally stiff, yet vertically compliant," "carbon dampens road buzz," blah blah blah - yeah, it's about marketing rather than truth. But c'mon, people. The bike industry has always been gimmicky. How many of you were told that your steel frame would go soft within a few years of riding? Or that tubulars, like fine wines, need to be aged to bring out their best characteristics? New crap, same old horse.
The fact is that the bicycle industry is more diverse than it ever has been. There are tons and tons of incredibly functional bicycles, frames and parts out there. I do agree that there are fewer relaxed-geometry road bicycles at the lower end of the price range, but you only need to bring your price point up to $800-$1000, and suddenly these bikes are popping out of the woodwork. Just off the top of my head, there's the Bianchi Volpe, Jamis Aurora and Surly Long Haul Trucker (which is selling so fast that QBP can't keep it in stock in ANY size). There are plenty of others.
And it's not about people like Grant Petersen being wrong or anything like that. Quite the opposite! I think that Grant Petersen and people like him have inspired some wonderful ideas in the industry, as manufacturers have been reminded that there is indeed a market for road bicycles and parts that aren't intended for getting sweaty. I frankly don't get all the noise about the horrible modern bike industry and LBS - we live in a time of bicycle bounty and diversity! Information and obscure parts are easy to obtain. I wasn't there, but I can't imagine that it was possible to choose among such a huge variety of cargo racks, shifters, handlebars, pedals, frames, doo-dads, bits and pieces and receive them in a week or less back in 1984. It's a great time to be riding, whether what you're riding was built in 2007 or 1967. I absolutely agree with those who are disgusted by the gimmickry and drive for new and shiny uber alles that define the "cutting edge" of the high-end road racing industry, but by and large the modern bike industry is doing great things for us, and that's not something to complain about. In with the old, in with the new.