What Innovations Have Caused Growth In Scuba Diving?

[undrwater]

Underwater digital photography plus the internet has likely been a large motivator for those who thought of scuba diving in terms of "I'd like to do that", and changed to "I CAN do that!" It's not disruptive because it doesn't change the way we dive.

---------- Post added December 1st, 2014 at 10:09 AM ----------

The mp3 player was not disruptive. The portable music player was though.

 

[RJP]

The mp3 player was not disruptive. The portable music player was though.

The mp3 player was not disruptive. But the iPod certainly was. No?

 

[boulderjohn]

One thing to look at in considering growth is the actual statistics on growth. While we don't have access to really good statistics on all divers, PADI has published some statistics on its membership and certification history that might be helpful. Click on the first link in the text to get the PDF file.

http://www.padi.com/scuba-diving/about-padi/statistics/

It shows that for PADI that was very consistent annual growth from the late 1970s to early 2000s, with a leveling off after that. Much of the growth could be attributed to the relative newness of the sport. If pretty much no one in the wold is originally certified, then you would expect growth. Then when a large percentage of people who want to become certified achieve that status, then you would expect things to level off as the number of new divers becomes more dependent upon the people who were not old enough to dive during the first surge. Some of the leveling off could also be a result of the world-wide recession.

 

[Akimbo]

…It might be argued that "SCUBA" did not exist before a diver, though having tank and demand regulator, could dive completely independently, without a surface timing device…

Dive watches predated the demand regulator. Omega made the first true dive watch in 1932 and the Rolex Submariner was introduced in 1954. A number of watches suitable for most Scuba divers were available in the late 1920s. I suppose the watch is at the base of the dive computer or instrument chart.

This brings up another interesting historic question. I wonder where the first depth gauges came from? Were they home-brews made from bourdon tube pressure gauges or maybe military surplus from early European rebreather-equipped combat swimmers?

 

[undrwater]

The mp3 player was not disruptive. But the iPod certainly was. No?

The device itself, I don't think so. The services around the device, certainly.

Perhaps a disruptive innovation requires a product + service that scales well?

 

[Akimbo]

The mp3 player was not disruptive. But the iPod certainly was. No?

So that makes the MP3 file format the enabling technology/innovation and all of the players are a case of concurrent invention. Apple's iPod was the market-maker though.

 

[boulderjohn]

As Dr. Christensen explains it, one of the characteristics of disruptive innovation is that when it originally appears, it is in the beginning stages of its development and is often not as good as the incumbent technology. It is thus often ignored by the business leaders using the incumbent technology because if they were to adapt it, they would be competing against themselves with an inferior product. In order to survive, the disruptive technology often finds its own niche market and continues along those lines until it improves to the point that it is better than the incumbent technology, at which time the incumbent technology goes away.

IMO, the best example he gave was not the one you do--TV vs radio, because those have somewhat different purposes and uses. It was instead the transistor vs the vacuum tube, two technologies that did the same thing. When they first came out, transistors did a crappy job in radios and (later) TVs. Sure, they made things smaller and less prone to break downs, but the sound sucked. Logically, the big radio companies like Zenith and RCA ignored them because they had a superior product using vacuum tubes. A small, unknown company named Sony used transistors to develop lousy-sounding radios that teenagers could take to the beach, thus creating a niche market for that technology. In time, transistors improved, and suddenly the incumbent technology of the vacuum tube went away, taking their companies with them.

A close example in scuba is the diver computer. Before it came into being, people relied on tables. The computers had a lot wrong with them, and tables were much more reliable. A lot of people attacked them, especially when their use began to grow in the mid 1990s. Computers grew in quality, and their prices plummeted. Today table use among recreational divers is rare, and many of the arguments you still hear against them are from people who are still arguing against the use of the computers that were made in 1993 rather than the ones made today.

 

[rx7diver]

Dive watches predated the demand regulator. Omega made the first true dive watch in 1932 and the Rolex Submariner was introduced in 1954. A number of watches suitable for most Scuba divers were available in the late 1920s. I suppose the watch is at the base of the dive computer or instrument chart.

Akimbo,

The most recent article (BLOG) I've read is here: The History Of Dive Watches | aBlogtoWatch. Although it is probably not definitive, it is at least consistent with other histories I've read which all suggest that the true dive watch (a "tool watch" having screw-down crown and other characteristics that make it sufficiently waterproof enough and robust enough to take to deep depths and survive the rigors of sport diving) really arrived in the 1950's, a few years later than sport scuba diving began. It seems that those first watches that might have been used while diving were not "true" dive watches.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[RJP]

IMO, the best example he gave was not the one you do--TV vs radio, because those have somewhat different purposes and uses. It was instead the transistor vs the vacuum tube, two technologies that did the same thing. When they first came out, transistors did a crappy job in radios and (later) TVs. Sure, they made things smaller and less prone to break downs, but the sound sucked. Logically, the big radio companies like Zenith and RCA ignored them because they had a superior product using vacuum tubes. A small, unknown company named Sony used transistors to develop lousy-sounding radios that teenagers could take to the beach, thus creating a niche market for that technology. In time, transistors improved, and suddenly the incumbent technology of the vacuum tube went away, taking their companies with them.

Agreed - I was aiming for an example that everyone would intuitively get from a marketing standpoint.

---------- Post added December 1st, 2014 at 03:19 PM ----------

Akimbo,

The most recent article (BLOG) I've read is here: The History Of Dive Watches | aBlogtoWatch. Although it is probably not definitive, it is at least consistent with other histories I've read which all suggest that the true dive watch (a "tool watch" having screw-down crown and other characteristics that make it sufficiently waterproof enough and robust enough to take to deep depths and survive the rigors of sport diving) really arrived in the 1950's, a few years later than sport scuba diving began. It seems that those first watches that might have been used while diving were not "true" dive watches.

So if we're already splitting hairs as to which dive watches were "true" dive watches, I think we're pretty firmly in Sustaining Innovation territory.

Panerai was making Radiomir wrist watches in the late 30's (History and Manufactures of Officine Panerai Watches: Swiss technology and Italian design)

"1936 - On the eve of the Second World War, Panerai creates the first prototypes of the model now known as "Radiomir" for the frogman commandos of the First Submarine Group Command of the Royal Italian Navy."

As an avid watch collector, I'll also point out the blog you quote is a "wrist watch" blog rather than a scuba diving blog. By definition, it will not include or address any sort of "non-watch" underwater timing device. Even if we remove "when was the first real dive watch" out of the discussion... as long as there were timers that could go underwater, the "dive watch" itself is merely an incremental evolution.

 

[rx7diver]

So if we're already splitting hairs as to which dive watches were "true" dive watches, I think we're pretty firmly in Sustaining Innovation territory.

Panerai was making Radiomir wrist watches in the late 30's (History and Manufactures of Officine Panerai Watches: Swiss technology and Italian design)

Akimbo and RJP,

Yes, maybe I've been using too narrow a definition for what constitutes a "real" or "true" dive watch. For example, my definition might exclude a watch that can be used underwater with an oxygen-rebreather-diving navy frogman, if it can't be used reliably at the sport diving depths of 66, 99, or 132 fsw (say). My definition includes a self-winding, automatic movement, a screw-down crown, and other characteristics. The "tool watch" aspect I consider extremely important, too. Yes, maybe too narrow a definition for this discussion...

Safe Diving,

rx7diver