This seems a little narrow minded. Many highly talented programmers find a lucrative area and stick with it for a while, but they can pick up on the "new big thing" almost instantly.
IMO it all comes back to talent and drive which are almost impossible to judge in an interview but they tend to swamp all other factors over time.
It doesn't matter what you did last year. Programming (and startups) are all about what you can do this year.