I rode one on an international flight in 2007 that seemed like pristine stock from the 70s. Still had a weird lounge on the second floor, and those awful headphones that are just like piped-in music. The seats still had the little ash trays in the armrest too. Quite an experience!
Comments like yours remind me how everyone's life experience is different!
For various reasons, my family would fly back and forth between the U.S. and Europe, so I grew up flying thousands of miles a year on 747's.
The year I get married we decided to check out Israel, and flew twice! from NY -> Israel -> NY -> FL -> AZ -> NY -> ETC), with almost all legs on a 747.
In Phoenix I learnt to pilot a small plane, (and have sat in the pilot's seat of 747 without touching anything :)), and that's probably because of my rearing.
I did right before the pandemic coming back to NY from Germany on Lufthansa. I mean I am glad I did it just to have the experience, but you aren't really missing anything. I much prefer the 777. The 747, while having been updated over time, is still a 50 year old design at its core.
I have not flown on a 380, but the 777 is still my favorite plane to fly on, edging out the 787 even, though not by a whole lot- the increased comfort (higher pressure and humidity) in the cabin and reduced noise don't quite make up for the lack of spaciousness you feel inside a 777.
I personally have no desire to get on a 380, they just seem too big... like the tropey quote "They were so obsessed with whether they could, they didn't think of whether they should..." it just seems out of scale somehow.
Same here. 747s are everywhere in the literature I grew up with. They are also in news, games and films. But when I actually grown up, the time of those planes have lapsed. Now due to visa limitations, I am even harder to travel internationally, not to say to choose a specific plane to fly on.
EDIT: heres what those headphones look like, they're literally just tubes that carry the sound from a tiny speaker in the armrest: https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/jRkTcB8Xr0/IMG...