Questions about ScubaDiving.com??

[nyprrthd]

Please excuse a dumb newbie, but how does one pay off an ANSI breathing simulator?

Note: Tongue firmly planted in cheek.

I recently read a post on this forum written by one of the testers in the fin tests. He made it pretty clear how he feels that the test results are virtually unbiased. All manufacturers are welcome to submit their equipment for testing. Rodales doesn't do blind purchases of equipment from companies that don't submit for testing. My guess would be that they are trying to avoid litigation. What does it say about companies that don't want their stuff tested? Is there something they don't want us to know???

 

[crpntr133]

A machine can be unbiased but a human... I would find it hard not to be too a certain degree. I am saying biased as in "I don't care for splits" but not as "I love Zeagle so all there stuff is the best."
Pay off a machine...I pay the ATM all the time. The people at the bank seem to be happy that I do it.

Is it that the company doesn't want us to know something or they think that the idea of a review is pure "biased opinion"?

 

[BigTuna]

In exchanging revisions with a magazine editor about an article I wrote on outfitting my boat, I was encouraged to emphasize the positive and not be critical about design or function. So when I wrote about changes I made, I emphasized the benefits they gave, with little discussion of any weaknesses they might have corrected.

So now when I read boat reviews, I can see the same dynamic at work. I can read about all the good stuff, but the bad stuff is either mentioned obliquely or skipped entirely. I think I see the same kind of emphasis in scuba equipment and resort reviews.

HOWEVER, when performance can be measured and reported objectively, I think reviews have great value. For example think of reviews of lights, with brightness and beam spread and color reported. Or remaining no-deco time for the same dive profile for a computer review. Or max speed and time at speed for a bunch of testers of fins. Or flow resistance of regulators. If you know what characteristics are important to you (perhaps from your own experiences or anectodal reports), you can use objective pretty effectively to rank the products.

Then there's equipment like wet suits. How do you measure their performance objectively? Subjective reporting of such equipment seems to be about the best you can do. Furthermore, since subjective results are anecdotal in nature, "your milage may vary," as they say. That's also the case with most product info we get here on the board, by the way.

If you're a cynic, you could claim that objective and even subjective test results are manipulated, or bad outiers ignored, etc. But I think a review magazine's life depends on its credibility. So when you read its reviews, take them at face value and try to look behind that "emphasize the positive" orientation.

 

[Tavi]

Please excuse a dumb newbie, but how does one pay off an ANSI breathing simulator?

Note: Tongue firmly planted in cheek.

............[snip]...........

It's a human that interpets and records what the machine does!!

It's also a human that edits the reviews!!

 

[abitton]

But I got a couple dozen stone crab claws, by brail.

That sounds painful...