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I can chime in because I work in the industry.
The differences between asphalt and concrete are covered well already - the the caveat here is that for driveways, a lot of what the product looks like in the future will depend on workmanship.
For cities and highways, etc., there are specs to everything from the sub-base, base, to prepping the surface for either asphalt, concrete - and testing along to go with it because it's infrastructure. For residential and driveways it's literally a free for all, and depends on if its done properly in the first place or not.
Asphalt must be placed and compacted at a certain temperature to maximize its performance. Like you said, a lot of these 'driveway specialists' will come, dump asphalt out of a flatbed that's been cooling for hours, and kinda make it look flat and leave. Owners won't know because it's black and look like asphalt, but that stuff isn't gonna last at all. You also need to ensure the surface is prepped relatively well and that whatever's under the driveway isn't going to settle, etc.
Concrete will also require prepping, but it's more difficult to get concrete wrong than asphalt. A lot of the potential for concrete going wrong comes when it's hardening - if it's not protected/cured properly you'll get microcracking pretty much immediately. You also can't de-ice it without risking the surface failing. And it's more costly, as most places have minimum orders for concrete.
All in all, pick a quality contractor and not the lowest rate. Feel free to PM or ask if you have other questions!
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