Posted by kelphead on November 21, 2000 at 18:16:45:
In Reply to: Re: What's wrong with dive industry economics? posted by JRM on November 21, 2000 at 16:28:23:
yeah, you do have a point about the mentality
of modern day americans, but the counterargument
is that when it comes to a potentially life
threatening endeavor, others will point out
that your faster/cheaper analogies do not
equate.
microwaving your potato(no 'e'), or running
a cd/dvd are not life threatening. but
a surgeon, operating on another human being is
going to take the longer, more expensive route
to train b/c someone's life may be in jeopardy
and those who get their professional degrees
from faster/cheaper places are ridiculed, as well
as mistrusted.
so, in short, if people knew how life threatening
scuba diving is and how seriously they have to take
the subject matter, then i don't think you'll
find too many people who would be willing to
knowingly forego thorough instruction. of course,
you may still get a few who don't care and will
want it faster/cheaper, but i do believe that
if entering scuba students knew just how seriously
scuba diving was, they would opt for the better,
not-so-fast, not-so-cheap instruction--and this
seems to be true when potential scuba students
talk to other divers BEFORE they sign up for
a course: they do indeed listen to the advise
given to them the they do indeed opt for the more
thorough path.
so, i don't really see it being a consumer problem
as much as it is the marketing that you mentioned.
it's not 'padi' catering to the consumer, when
the consumer doesn't even know what he/she wants
in scuba instruction until AFTER they've been
exposed to it. i think it's more an agency attempt
to try to get more people into the sport and
it's the responsibility of the divers who are
currently in the sport to advise would-be students
about receiving quality instruction.
just as i wrote in another post a while ago, how
should I know what i want in scuba instruction
when i'm joe shmo off the street? isn't it up
to those in the know to provide me quality
instruction? alternatively, however, isn't it the
responsibility of the entering student to do
the research to get as much info as possible
before signing on the dotted line? we do that
when we are shopping for appliances, automobiles,
and services.
perhaps what is needed is a way for would-be
scuba students to be able to research different
agencies and the credentials of different shops/
instructors before committing to a class.
the dive mags seem to be doing just that when
they feature articles about 'how to find the
right instructor for you', but doesn't this
info need to be relayed to people OUTSIDE
the dive industry, those who are in the mainstream??
however, from the impression i get reading some
posts on boards, the dive industry is a
secretive entity which doesn't like it when
their curricula are advertised or when their
own statistics are made public.
so, ultimately, if one is to make an informed
decision about one's quality of instruction,
i wouldn't blame the faster/cheaper
indoctrination as much as i would blame the
lack of information out of the dive industry.
i think that time will tell if the cheaper/less
expensive courses will actually result in what
the agencies want: a larger dive industry--or if
they will have to come up w/a different strategy.
i think it's too early to tell. ...even those
people who learn to dive at a resort are the ones
who tend not to be 'die hard' divers and do not
dive anywhere other than clear, warm water locales.
so, even w/their rushed courses, it seems that
these divers' actions are automatically kept in
check when they decide to continue diving in the
presence of dm's and in ideal conditions.
anyway, my humble 2cents.
= : )
kelphead.