> "No one who "really knows what Philosophy is" takes Ayn Rand seriously. Actually, taking Ayn Rand seriously is a pretty good sign you don't really know what Philosophy is... "
Forget about the 80 years bit. Their main point is still totally valid... and you can go way back beyond 80 years and read Heraclitus or Dogen (playing favourites but sure there are more) and still get much better philosophy that is relevant 'our times' than you ever could hope for with Rand.
As an aside, I'd like to mention that Rand also does a huge amount of damage to the already damaged issue of women in philosophy, and that her popularization in recent years over, say, Susan Sontag or Julia Kristeva, just makes the whole situation even worse.