I agree. I work with a fellow who is intelligent, but has absolutely zero interest in learning technology on his own time. He's a decent Java guy who came from a C++ background, but the only area he stands out in (Swing development) isn't terribly marketable. He has no web experience, no knowledge of non-OO programming and his CS degree is far enough in the past that he has retained only limited knowledge of more interesting topics (e.g. compilers, AI, math coursework) that would give him a frame of reference to rebuild from.
The sad thing is that he's going on job interviews right now, and is having about as little luck as you might expect. He just got told by one interviewer that he's almost at the point of no return where his experience is so stale, it's going to be hard to transfer out to another job. From his perspective, he's caught between a rock and a hard place - because he's stuck in a job that he doesn't like, but that same job is keeping him from getting another. It would be so easy for him to jump out of this trap simply by dedicating a couple of hours a day to reading about things outside his experience. However, based on our conversations I doubt that's going to happen. It's especially disturbing because he's otherwise an intelligent guy, but he believes that his job is responsible for giving him marketable skills, and this is how people get stuck in jobs they don't like.
If you wanted to be a white knight, you could invite him to work with you on a project in a language or domain unfamiliar to him - it might force him to catch up.
The sad thing is that he's going on job interviews right now, and is having about as little luck as you might expect. He just got told by one interviewer that he's almost at the point of no return where his experience is so stale, it's going to be hard to transfer out to another job. From his perspective, he's caught between a rock and a hard place - because he's stuck in a job that he doesn't like, but that same job is keeping him from getting another. It would be so easy for him to jump out of this trap simply by dedicating a couple of hours a day to reading about things outside his experience. However, based on our conversations I doubt that's going to happen. It's especially disturbing because he's otherwise an intelligent guy, but he believes that his job is responsible for giving him marketable skills, and this is how people get stuck in jobs they don't like.
Don't be that guy. Tolle, lege!