Not sure why you think the specialties you chose are so special. Nitrox is a good cert to have because it permits one to obtain nitrox fills but does not require any diving, just pass the written exam along with an exercise on analyzing a couple of tanks and filling out logs and tank stickers. Not sure how this cert contributes to one being a better diver.
Multi-level? if you have a computer you are probably diving multi-level to some degree already. Not sure what skill is imparted that would make you a better diver in the course other than an increased awareness of no-deco time and to avoid bounce pattern dive profiles.
Search and Recovery seems like a good skill to have, but what is taught that you didn't pick up in Search and Rescue? Sounds like a course where you pay to practice a skill one already needs for the master diver recognition card to begin with.
I can understand how a drift cert may make a diver more well rounded if learning to properly launch and manage a dsmb is included along with managing buoyancy properly while doing so is taught. How to deal with currents and surfacing and surface safety are good things to be aware of if taught as well.
While you might not find something like fish identification as a specialty to have anything to do with diving, it requires more diving than nitrox. so on can do nitrox cert as a specialty and be crappy diver using nitrox.
The reality is that the PADI MSD recognition is just that a BS recognition card that proves little and is not really highly regarded outside of PADI ad copy...it isn't even a requirement for any of PADI's professional level training. Not sure why anyone would pay the extra admin fee for this card unless having the card somehow satisfies their ego.
Experience is what counts. I dive in a club that has a bunch of divemasters. Among us there is a wide range when it comes to the developed/undeveloped skill sets each has. There are instructors and assistant instructors hat I have seen that make me shake head and wonder how they got certified to teach. Having a card in your wallet or dive log does not make one a good diver. A big part of what makes a good diver is experience, but the major part of being a good diver is knowing one's limits and acknowledging the areas where one can improve and then setting out to improve those areas. One doesn't need a collection of plastic cards to be experienced.
I am sure there are some great instructors out there that offer lots of good knowledge in the PADI specialty courses they teach, but one must realize that PADI makes money through selling education material and charging administrative fees. An organization who's profits are structured as such will wrap just about anything under the guise of "training and certification" and market it to make folks think it is something they need or want.
-Z
