Farlander,
Your opinion is interesting if only for this fact: You never knew the OT as the OT. Your introduction to Star Wars was the Phantom Menace, as you said. The PT hangs like sandbags on the entire SW product. I absolutely loved Star Wars from when it came out until 1999. From about 1999 to 2008, I couldn't stand Star Wars. Even watching the OT was painful for me, because of its association with the PT. It so tarnished my enjoyment of movies I really loved. It, as you said, made it all suck.
A couple years ago, I started to turn around on it again. Ady's SW:R was a big part of it, but I started to cut the sandbags loose and self-deliriorize (new word!) that the prequels don't exist. And, wouldn't you know, it returned the movies to their former esteem!
My 7 year old son (and my other younger kids, for that matter) are very vaguely aware that there are prequel movies, cartoons and toys out there, but they've never really seen them. Several of my real life friends believe I have cheated my son from forming his own opinion... but his 7 year old world already almost revolves in a single day. His current favourites are Ben-10 and He-man, at least they were when I dropped him off for school this morning.
I find the prequel material to so dillute the SW property that it simply becomes irrelevant. If you could somehow see the impact the prequels had by seeing a future where the prequels weren't made and to compare it to our future... I think you'd see that the prequels gave the Star Wars name a boost in the arm, but that they eventually did more harm than good. Currently you can find a site like this with a lot of 30 somethings complaining about how one of the best parts of their childhoods has been changed for the worse, but people in your (Finlander) generation mostly just won't care. The OT, the PT, won't be met with positive or negative passion... Just with indifference.
(Sorry to get so "oldguy" on you, but you did lead in with your "youngguy" perspective)