DozyWannabe
I think the Wingman was referring to "revolutionary" in the narrow context of the control columns, as the SSs would have been revolutionary to any pilot (even an A300 pilot) entering the flight deck of a new A320! As Boeing are still using control columns in the 21st century, even on FBW aircraft such as the B777, might it be to reflect pilot mindsets......?
With the benefit of hindsight, would it have been better for all manufacturers to use the same control column system whilst jointly addressing the Stony Point "stick shaker"/stall issues? We now have nearly half the industry using a different system, with flaws appearing.
AF447 stands out. The loss of Capt Warner was a test flight, with all that entails, and no more indicates an A330 fault than the RR engines FOHE issues indicates a B777 fault. The Air Afrique A330 loss is the least of Libya's priorities, so no satisfactory investigation is assured.
AF447 is critical so, unless pilots are better trained at high altitude manual flight, and with all the additional cost that entails, the pitot tubes and ADIRUs had better be damn reliable!