Ioncloud9
Contributor
I'm new to the sport of diving, and haven't even so much as been involved with any of the sport in any way prior to May of this year, and never browsed any forums until August-ish. I have a background in IT and technology and thus am used to a fast pace of development in products, and unfortunately change for the sake of change sometimes. But we aren't using computers from the late 90s or early 2000s nor are we using storage technology from the 80s. We learn more, get better materials, create better models, and advance.
Thus I was completely shocked-and I mean shocked-when I found out there are actual regulator designs from 1958 that people still actually spend the better part of a grand buying. This is extremely resistant to change. I am also an avid snow skiier but there is no way I would use snow skis from the 50s and 60s. The technology has improved dramatically. Even MOST dive computers (with the exception of the Shearwater line) look like casio watches from the mid 90s, or giant hockey pucks that have CPUs worst than the TI-83 but still somehow cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I get it that the diving market just isn't that big and niche items tend to fetch high prices due to economies of scale.
And I know Jet fins are considered "the best" but the design is from the 1960s. Just because its old doesn't mean its not good. With vastly improved materials science and computer modelling I find it hard to believe that they got it perfect in 1965 without any of that and the rest of the time has just been wasted since it cant get any better. I think some of it comes from a resistance to change, some comes from mistrust from brands that have made and sold useless crap at high prices for decades without the diver's best interest, relying on marketing gimmicks to push as much product as possible.
I'm not trying to rant about this, I'm just making an observation from a new diver's perspective, there just seems to be a huge resistance to change.
Thus I was completely shocked-and I mean shocked-when I found out there are actual regulator designs from 1958 that people still actually spend the better part of a grand buying. This is extremely resistant to change. I am also an avid snow skiier but there is no way I would use snow skis from the 50s and 60s. The technology has improved dramatically. Even MOST dive computers (with the exception of the Shearwater line) look like casio watches from the mid 90s, or giant hockey pucks that have CPUs worst than the TI-83 but still somehow cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I get it that the diving market just isn't that big and niche items tend to fetch high prices due to economies of scale.
And I know Jet fins are considered "the best" but the design is from the 1960s. Just because its old doesn't mean its not good. With vastly improved materials science and computer modelling I find it hard to believe that they got it perfect in 1965 without any of that and the rest of the time has just been wasted since it cant get any better. I think some of it comes from a resistance to change, some comes from mistrust from brands that have made and sold useless crap at high prices for decades without the diver's best interest, relying on marketing gimmicks to push as much product as possible.
I'm not trying to rant about this, I'm just making an observation from a new diver's perspective, there just seems to be a huge resistance to change.