There are new guitarists that shred quite fine. Petrucci is one of them, (he's like the most popular one, I think of him as the 90's Satriani... Not the best, but he'll turn people on the extreme techniques) you have Ron THAL, Matthias IA Eklundh, etc...

I am quite a fan of shredding, but once it stops being funny and musical, I turn my ears away.
Actually, I have always thought of shredding as a way to show how you could master your guitar, but in a funny way, like someone who would write his letters backwards... No use, but quite a show.