I enjoyed taking the class, looked forward to go every week, became friendly with the other students. It was a good experience. Were my skills that much better than the weekend wonders of today? probably, but the required skill set was very different. I was taught a lot of things like buddy breathing, CSA, ditch and don, mouth to snorkel breathing, surface towing an unconscious diver. Some of those skills are no longer taught because they were unsafe to practice or replace by technology, like buddy breathing and calculation repetitive dive groups. Who here could plan a multi-level dive profile using the navy tables? There was only one gas available. We didn't even have tanks until the forth class, if I recall correctly. First class was a swim test, the second and third were snorkeling. We only got orally inflated horse collar BCs on the last pool session and there was no discussion (at least that I remember) about buoyancy control.
The cost to run a class that way would make getting certified today cost prohibitive and considering how people pile crap onto their schedules today, asking for a very high level of commitment that many would not be willing to make. I am encouraging my daughter to take scuba as an elective in college, so she can get her advanced certification (she has just OW).
I was probably better at clearing my mask and more comfortable setting up the gear, but my first OW dive was in a 1/4" farmer John wetsuit which was much more restrictive than anything available today. Apples and oranges.