[Rurudyne]

The big failing of the plane is that, unlike the 747, it was not designed from the get go for cargo. That means far fewer of those planes are being sold than would otherwise be the case and with that they become more expensive to buy and to maintain.

Boeing was hedging its bet with the multirole 747 and it paid off huge for them.

[mad_as_he$$]

Boeing bet the company on the 747. It wasn’t hedging, they went all in.

[Mr. Jeeves]

New passenger 747-8's are not selling, either - and for the same reasons. The cargo variants are still out there, but the era of the four-engined airliner is rapidly drawing to a close.

Personally - in terms of passenger comfort - the A380 is the pinnacle.

[rellic]

Boeing designed the 47 for the military as cargo. They lost to the C5. C5 is front and rear load. Turns out the Rear load was harder than it appears and it took years and lots of Tax money to get it right.
Full disclosure; C5 Navigation Avionics repair (USAF)qualified
Twenty plus years Boeing Experimental flight test.
I know a little bit about both aircraft.