DCBC - and there's the real issue behind all of these sorts of discussion. Diver certification has become a business apart from the business of diving. PADI doesn't care about anything beyond their certification and travel business.
I believe that PADI is a professional organization and as such has to weigh many factors in the creation of its business plan. The needs of Society at-large are a factor and as such all organizations have "modified" the standards of divers and instructors over the years. PADI has just "modified" them in such a way to give them a marketing advantage.
Arguably, there have been technological advancements in diving equipment and what was expected in the past, is no longer required. I'll give an example... When full-jacket BCs came out (instead of ones worn on the front only), an argument in the industry was that the "new" BC would keep an in-water victim in a vertical position inhibiting in-water AR, but this as you know was overcome by industry. Then back-mounted wings came out (about the same time), but these were found to float a diver face down in the water (a definite no no at the time). These models were discontinued and companies that produced them went out of business. Today if you walk into a dive store and tell the salesman that you want to purchase the best BC he has in the store, what do you think that is?
Besides how many diver's are ever required to do in-water A/R? Oh yes, this requirement was discontinued because it was thought of as an unsafe procedure because the rank and file were unable to do this safely (due to a lower degree of training) as they lowered the standards and it wasn't a requirement... Remember they call this progress...

People's attitudes change for many reasons. Diver safety use to be the most important factor. Standards were a lot higher (although some higher than others). On another thread, a DM candidate completed an in-water test. His comment was that I DID IT! Certainly congratulations were in-order, but the test he was referring to required him to exchange his SCUBA equipment underwater (some comments even questioned the usefulness of this exercise). I couldn't help but say that my OW students were required to complete this under blackout with harassment before they became certified. It builds confidence and better prepares the diver for an emergency (it does this without question). Times have changed. What it means to me is that as far as in-water ability is concerned, today's instructors have to prove less than OW divers had to prove in past years! B by my own admission however, I'm from the old school and part of a dieing breed. Divers today would have difficulty understanding my perspective.

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