The main difference is that more resources are now publicly available to everyone to look up on the internet which was a different story 40 years ago. This is why companies at the time hired grads that can re-implement closed-source software from scratch from a reference spec or by reverse-engineering from another company to stay ahead. This has happened with device drivers and closed-source compilers.

To some extent open-source has removed the cost for reinventing libraries, reverse engineering and there is little need to study specific elements in a subject to solve such a problem when you can grab lib_whatever or a free compiler for a language.

You are right that in interviews at famous companies (FAANG, asset management companies, aerospace / embedded systems companies) being self-taught here isn't enough. Instead, they require specific certifications and they look for the graduate with a strong engineering degree rather than someone who is self-taught.*

Right now in 2019, I would do both.

*Having a serious open-source project or significant contributions is actually a huge advantage over recent graduates.