There was an interesting article recently - the Deep Dark Secret of Silicon Valley http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/28/silicon-valley%e2%80%99s-dark-secret-it%e2%80%99s-all-about-age/

Basically it says that the Valley prefers younger candidates who will put in allnighters for lower wages, and advocates that experienced programmers move into management positions after they hit a certain age. The problem is there aren't that many management positions to go around..

I don't work in the Valley, but my personal experience is that experienced programmers can still code and are valuable because of their experience, and in my neck of the woods there are companies who will hire them.