[nishantmodak]

“If we had had the same progress in the aircraft industry, you and I could be flying between London and New York in 500,000-seat planes and the fare would be about 25 cents,” he once said.

What kind of progress/innovation does he refer to in this?

[nonamegiven]

ENIAC to your phone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selectron_tube

[rm445]

At a guess, transistors on a die.