You obviously have never heard of Bill Hamilton, author of some of the very first helium tables for non-military, non-commercial use in the 1990s. Before this all helium use and helium deco was a major voodoo subject to State secrets and lock and proprietery key. So yeah there have been some revolutions in the past 20 yrs, the fact that you can buy something like V-planner for ~$100 US is huge.
I agree with you, although I think his comment was directed at a narrower interpretation of "dive equipment".
When I consider that when in back mount I dive a G250, a variant of the original Jet Fins, and BP wing technology that is not substantially differnent than the SP Buoyancy Control Pack I started diving with in 1985, his point of view has some merit.
However, a great deal of progress
has occurred in equipment and configuration over the last 20 years, with sidemount being among the most noteable. It has over the last 20 years come from a back yard do it your self proposition to a mainstream configuration with everyone trying to get in on the game.
Like most things in diving, the dive industry as a whole had very little to do with the evolution of something better. That hard work gets done by a few dedicated individuals and then only once it is accepted does the rest of the industry jump on the bandwagon.
The evolution of nitrox, trimix, gas switching, etc, is a prime example of this.
