I would argue there has always been a majority group of humans that haven't contributed much to technological progress . . . except for buying the things made from the technology.
The hard core scientists and inventors are still around doing some radical things with ever improving tools and producing significant material results. Perhaps this will create a sort of tech-caste society?
The amount and quality of information available at one's fingertips in modern and semi-modern countries is staggering. What one "can" know is difficult to imagine, but what is more important is what one decides to know and what one decides to do with that knowledge.
I don't think the ratio of doers and ne'er-do-wells has changed over time, but the tools for the doers to continue to do great things are improving.