So, in my post-DEMA mindset I'm also thinking about the rate and impact of innovation in scuba diving industry.
What do folks consider as an innovation timeline for scuba? For argument's sake, let's start with 1943 and the birth of the "modern scuba unit" (demand-valve diving regulator + tank of compressed breathing gas)
Where do we go from there?
I'm struggling to come up with anything that has fundamentally changed recreational scuba diving since then... other than the introduction of professional instruction/certification. By "fundamentally" I mean something that has expanded the who, how, where, or when of recreational diving in a meaningful way.
I considered the following, but feel they are more "evolution-vs-revolution" improvements rather than true innovation:
Horsecollar BCD
Personal dive computers
Recreational nitrox
I'm also discounting rebreathers as not yet being a recreational scuba innovation given:
1.) Low penetration rate
2.) High price barrier to broad adoption
3.) It's still really just breathing (and rebreathing) compressed gas underwater from a tank you bring with you.
I'm sure I'm missing something. Look forward to people's thoughts.