I think the cues of yesteryear were outstanding and, while there is no denying that cues are a bit better today. you will never convince me that the cues are a major factor in why there are so many straight shooters today. Give the players of today the cues of yesteryear and they will shoot much straighter than their counterparts of the straight pool era.
All I can say is that when I bought my first low deflection Predator shaft (when they first came out), my shot making went up a level as soon as my brain got used to the new smaller deflection adjustments. Also, my occasional misfires where I put a touch on English on the cueball I didn't want had almost no impact on the accuracy of my shot. I haven't played with the even superior low deflection cues they have out now, but my guess would be there's a reason so many players have moved in that direction besides sponsorship. They help.
I think cloth also does matter for similar reasons.
I agree with the rest of what you are saying. There's almost no doubt I would have been a better player if when I started in the 70s I had access to Youtube videos, online lessons and information, could record my my form and stroke and make adjustments etc.. Plus since pool got globalized and many more people are playing the game, we were bound to generate way more great players.
I just recall seeing the best players of the 70s and 80s at their short term peak and they didn't miss either. The difference is that there were a handful of guys like that at any point in time. Now there are dozens.
