While I fully agree with the post, it misses one (or perhaps two) important points:
First: Additional qualifications, sometimes called specialties, are a money-maker for training agencies. Some training agencies even encourage LDS to develop new specialties, depending on local dive conditions. While divers will certainly gain additional experience going diving, a new course (or specialty) may not always be in the best interest of a diver. I believe that a diver needs to practice the skills he/she did learn during the course and have some fun doing it.
I’m not sure if this is true, but I did read somewhere that the average scuba diver continues diving for 3 – 4 years. Then the diver quits for various reasons (family, other activities, etc.). Keeping divers active and interested for a longer time period is certainly one of the main challenges for dive stores. The best way to do this may be to create interesting (and challenging) dive opportunities. Divers like to hang out with divers, they like to discuss dive topics, and they like to have fun. However, some stores believe that selling more courses is the best way to do more business. I have seen dive stores not letting divers participate in weekend outings because they don’t have a “cold water specialty” or a “drift diver specialty”.
That’s bad business practice, at least in my opinion.
Second: Except for some technical dive training, it is common practice today that almost all divers pass each and every course they sign up for. Why? Because no LDS likes to lose (or can afford to lose) business to a competitor. No instructor likes to be known as the “roughneck”. Training agencies are not interested in “failures”, because they are bad for business. However, a failure now is better than a fatality later – both for the diver and the sport.
Perhaps this is what GDI wanted to say in his article. Practice makes a good diver, and a C-card can mean anything and nothing.