Are there advancement in the field of aviation?

My friend told me that there are no advancement whatsoever. He said that we have reached the edge of our technological advancement of aviation. The newer aircrafts to come, like the A350, are no different than the aircrafts we're currently using today.

is it true?

Pretty much only software.

From 1918 to 1930 there was not much change in aviation due to no war being on so advancements were slow.

When the second world war started everyone was under enormous pressure to beat his foes with new ideas so every genius out there in his/her field had much more chance to get his ideas forth and money was pouring in.

War tends to do that.

Now there's a recession and very little pressure to invent new things but there's always something new coming out.

Computers are getting smarter everyday, just few years ago we did not have drones, Iphones, 3D Televisions and personal computers. Fake human skin is being developed right now and even force shields and the progress is quite promising.

Advancements are always a possibility but sometimes they are slow.

We have come a long way since Kitty Hawk in 1903. In comparision, It took centuries for most other advances in life.

Your friend is utterly wrong. There have been and still are plenty of advancements being made but most of them do not involve commercial (airline) aviation.

The advancements are not as obvious to the public, but planes are more fuel efficent and safer than ever before.
Some people think that planes have not advanced because they fly at the same speed as they did 30 years ago. Do they think that automobiles have not advanced over that time? After all, highway speeds are the same as they were 30 years ago, so they must think that a 2014 automobile is no more advanced than a 1984 automobile.