18 hours between last dive and flight

[BigJetDriver]

WE DON'T USE COMPUTERS. (Well, actually, I use one to graph my dives for downloading later, but it's kept in gauge mode while diving.).

Damn, DD, you must be one heck of a powerful swimmer to drag your desk-top with you while diving, even if you did cripple it! How long is the power cord, anyway???

 

[ArcticDiver]

We all know that no one EVER get's "undeserved" hits simply by following their computers right.

So now we've moved from computers to deco on the fly back to the USN tables. I'm assuming that you realize that these are all "models" of what may or may not be occuring...everytime you get in the water YOU are part of the expiriment.

The model in your computer is no more an indication of "reality" than deco on the fly. However, if you rely on your computer to do your thinking for you...when it craps out...you are suddenly at a disadvantage. If someone instead uses a very simple system to calculate their dives and carries some back-up tables for contingencies...who is in a better position when things go sideways?

Computers are wonderful things, both in diving and in many other areas. But they do not have the ability to Think. They can eliminate the human element in repetitive tasks. They can gather data and calculate much faster than a human. They can transfer operational knowledge; i.e. The user only has to know what to do with the information presented, not how to calculate it, which is what we do with dive tables. The computer can do all those things. But it cannot Think. But then neither can the dive tables. So, right on Brian. Use the computer, or dive tables for what they are; data producers for human thinking and decision making.

Besides...I can't imagine a computer company ever thinking about padding the numbers or anything to protect their legal heinies...

It isn't just the computer companies. They all try to hide behind the fact that there isn't any mandatory, centralized accident and incident reporting and investigation. So, we really don't know how safe the sport is, or how reliable the equipment is, or how good the procedures we use are.

My comments are in Bold