In the discussions I have had about the Distinctive Specialty I submitted, I know there is concern that some of the content I included is technical in nature and thus not suitable for the recreational diving world. I am quite sure that some people within the recreational agencies view a dive plan in which divers calculate adequate gas reserves to ensure returning to a required starting point (such as an ascent line in current) to be within the realm of technical diving. Moving skills like this over the line will require a change similar to the nitrox change, and that will require a patient and carefully calculated campaign.
As you noted, I see some similarities to the resistance in the early '90's to nitrox for recreational use. I think in a lot of those cases, both the problem and solution are ultimately driven by business, rather than diver safety, concerns.
What exactly does "technical in nature" mean? Isn't that really an artificial construct to define some set of "limits" to what the recreational diver is capable of? I don't believe in it. Divers live within a certain environment ... and any knowledge that helps make that environment safer is a reasonable thing to provide. If it appears to "technical", then the solution is to present it in a way that's less so.
For example, my AOW students do not go on their deep dive without first learning how to calculate their consumption rate, and how to base a dive plan on how much gas they have available. It's not "technical", it's simple arithmetic ... something anyone who's gone past about the fourth grade should be able to do. I've been teaching that way now for seven years, and yet to have a student who couldn't do it ... most rather easily.
I've had people come to my seminars who are recently OW certified ... and in a few cases, not yet certified ... and they "get it". So how technical is it, really?
As noted earlier, I was dumbfounded by the response the first time I offered to send my article to anyone on SB who wanted it. I couldn't keep up with all the requests. At the time I didn't have a website, so I asked a friend to put it on his so I could send people there.
There's a market for this stuff. People want it. The agency who leads the way providing for that market will make out.
That's the argument that should be used to promote it ... because, ultimately, scuba training is a business. And in business, selling what people want to buy makes more sense than telling people what's available ... or what's too "technical" for them to learn.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)