[jorisboris]

Innovation brings a golden age, then innovation flattens, competition arises and branding becomes more important

Flying was having its golden age around the times of Concorde and 747, coffee bars were great when Starbucks reinvented the 3rd place and social media was cool when it just came out

It very much relates to that Steve Jobs clip about what happens when the marketing people take over the company

[rswail]

Many countries have avoided the complete brand/chain-ification of the US market.

Cafes and coffee places are still great, Starbucks did for them what McDonalds did for food. They're a known standard of quality. It might be low, but it's known. Starbucks didn't invent the 3rd place, or re-invent it.

As jobs moved from manufacturing to services, more people were able to work in a way that the "3rd place" offers. The ultimate extension of that is WFH.

The actual planes are much better today than in the "golden age ... of Concorde and 747", what ruined it was the security theater as a result of 9/11, and the race to the bottom of the service offerings.

Business classes (especially international and Asian airlines) is much much better, economy has more services (individual entertainment, USB, power etc), better seats, but much worse seat pitches, and nickel-and-diming every item possible (ticket transfers/changes, luggage, seat selection, meals, etc).

So not so much "Brand Age" for air travel, it's more a stratification.

[zimpenfish]

> The actual planes are much better today than in the "golden age ... of Concorde and 747"

Although if what I learnt from QI is to be believed[0], the internal air quality is now much worse than when smoking was allowed because they don't recycle the air through filters as much (if at all) these days.

[0] I believe they're about 90% reliable with their "wacky" facts.

[rswail]

Depends which airline and which plane.

Airbus 350 and Boeing 777 have much better air, higher pressure than older planes.