miguel sanz once bubbled...
<snip>
I´ve always dived either with computer or with expirienced divers after good planning of the dives.
<snip>
I think you put your finger on the main point here.
Like many "new generation" divers you learned to put your faith in the computer (and perhaps your buddies) and never had to learn how to plan dives with the tables.
I was certified in the mid 80's and I dove for about 10 years before I finally broke down and got a computer. For me the point is perfectly obvious and both the materials and the standards seem completely clear. But you never had to apply it in real diving and for you the point isn't obvious at all.
When put that way I understand your point. I see it a lot too -- divers who are lost without a computer.
The question is, are these divers a symptom of a system that's not working, a symptom of bad instructors or a symptom of something else?
Maybe you're right, maybe there is something wrong when you're training tables while knowing full well that 95% of the divers will never use them.
Maybe (doesn't SDI do this?) the solution is to define a computer as mandatory equipment and forego training the tables all together. I know this isn't a popular thought among experienced divers but let's face it, the main point (these days) in training the tables is to get the underlying theory over, isn't it? Maybe PADI (et al) needs to get with the times and update the materials to be computer-centric and find a way to deliver on/offgassing-theory in the context of the computer and demonstrate the tables as a historical curiosity.
In fact maybe you can put table use into a specialty or something... PADI Wheel Diver Specialty with a badge, a series of dives and make it an option for AOW... lol
R..