It's interesting that so many people blame the class, the instructor, and anything else they can think of for AOW. Some things to consider are did you research the instructor? Did you discuss your expectations with the LDS, or instructor prior to taking the class? Did you take it with an instructor you felt would go above and beyond? OR, did you just take it to get a card, and then go online and complain about how worthless it was?
When I take a class, ANY class, I generally do a bit of research to determine if it's a class I will get something out of before dropping $$$.
Maybe rather than everyone reporting how lame it all was, maybe they should discuss the approach they used in researching the LDS/Instructor, the effort they made in learning the materials, and their expectations?
I did the class almost right out of OW. I did it to log more dives with an instructor, and I picked an instructor who was full of energy. I learned about Altitude dive planning, my buoyancy skills increased a LOT (not difficult with only started 5~6 dives), may navigation skills doubled at least, and I was more comfortable going deep (we did 80', 95' with the altitude adjustment) after having done so with an instructor. It was also My first night dive and while just a dive, we did a nav drill, and I learned the importance of watching depth while navigating without a visual reference.
I added Nitrox to the mix, saved a few bucks on that class, and two of my AOW divers were done using the Nitrox RDP's, so that added some reinforcement to my dive planning as well as provided a valuable card.
Overall my AOW experience was a LOT better than most of the responses I read. I think this was because I was not an experienced diver, but also because I really worked with the instructor and versa-visa to get as much out of the class as possible.