Shred dead? Not exactly. Shred dropped out of the mainstream in the 90s, when Nirvana popularized the 'anti-technique' movement. Since then, it has always been in the underground, holding a strong base of loyal followers. HOWEVER, recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in lead guitar, as exemplified by bands like Slipknot, Alterbridge, The Darkness and a few others. The recently concluded G3 tour also drew the biggest turnout yet. Everything moves in cycles. The boyband craze died, the J-pop fever sizzled out, and the current R&B/crap phase will be gone too. But the appreciation for genuine musicians with genuine dedication and love for their instruments will always be around. Look at Vai, Satch, Yngwie, EVH etc. They've been around forever. And they are still selling out arenas. Can Usher do this in 20 years time?
Having said that. there are many black sheep among the shred community who treat playing as an ego-stroking contest. They place technique above everything else, and lose sight of what music is about in the first place. Music is about expressing yourself, not entering the Olympics, and playing as fast as possible. To these people, I fart in their general direction. This is also the main reason behind metal's decline in the early 90s. Everyone was trying to outshred, out-tap one another until the public got tired of that,and welcomed grunge with open arms.
The anti-technique movement turned really appalling though. We've got a whole generation of kids who think all you have to do is detune, and bang away on one-finger chords. Most people who don't play solos cant play solos. And they put down guitar solos to make themselves feel better about their inadequecies. David Gilmour can say more in 4 notes than Yngwie, but hey, at least they are both speaking.
In a nutshell, there is good shredding, and there is bad shredding. You just have to sieve out the good ones for yourselves. Gods like Steve Vai, Satriani, Marty Friedman, Randy Rhoads, Petrucci, have transcended the tag of mere 'guitarists', and are world-class musicians, with the perfect blend of technique and compositional ability.
Well, I doubt anyone would have bothered to read through this long-assed entry, but to those who did, thank you. I realise I have gone horribly off-topic(female guitarists?), but I needed somewhere to vent. Thank you.