So, just who is George Irvine III?????

[ajduplessis]

People bitch and moan about things said and done in the past, but don't acknowledge the benefits they and others have gained through the work done. You can't criticise with one hand and take with the other. That how parasites behave (relies on or exploits others and gives nothing in return)!!

I say Thank You for the work done, it's made my diving safer and more enjoyable.

 

[Superlyte27]

I find it hard to believe that some people are really that bent out of shape over some Internet posts from over a decade ago.
Seriously??

These old posts have limited the growth of GUE?? How so?

Internet posts haven't affected my decision to take classes with any agency; PADI, GUE, or any others.

I find it amusing that some grown men and women are actually upset over things written long ago.....or at least pretend to be.

There must be a lot of fragile egos out there.

Cheers,

Mitch

If you are referring to me, I'm not upset. I could give a rat's butt today. Back in the day when he was literally threatening to kill friends of mine, I was upset. Today, I don't care. I found this thread looking at some info about Sheck Exley. I thought it was interesting that the man (GI3) who, albeit self proclaimed, changed tech diving forever has no award named after him, but rather a large populous of people who still hold him in disdain.

As far as the growth of GUE, ask JJ point blank if he thinks GI3's attitude nearly two decades ago has cost him market share today. The guys in the inner circle know that GUE isn't growing as fast as it should be. Membership is down. Market Share isn't growing, it's floundering. It's not my stance, but the idea that the GUE people are a bunch of elitist jerks is still very much alive and kicking around here.

 

[chrpai]

People bitch and moan about things said and done in the past, but don't acknowledge the benefits they and others have gained through the work done. You can't criticise with one hand and take with the other. That how parasites behave (relies on or exploits others and gives nothing in return)!!

I say Thank You for the work done, it's made my diving safer and more enjoyable.

There was a very famous leader who:

Linked Smoking to Cancer and was anti-smoking.
Pushed for low cost cars for the people.
Turned an economy around putting people back to work.
Invented the highway system.
Started the Olympic torch relay tradition.
Was a strong environmentalist who put in animal protection laws.

Anyone want to tell me who this was?

 

[shoredivr]

Godwin's law.

 

[nimoh]

There was a very famous leader who:

Linked Smoking to Cancer and was anti-smoking.
Pushed for low cost cars for the people.
Turned an economy around putting people back to work.
Invented the highway system.
Started the Olympic torch relay tradition.
Was a strong environmentalist who put in animal protection laws.

Anyone want to tell me who this was?

a good flame war is never complete with out a reference to him or his party

 

[Pullmyfinger]

If you are referring to me, I'm not upset. I could give a rat's butt today. Back in the day when he was literally threatening to kill friends of mine, I was upset. Today, I don't care. I found this thread looking at some info about Sheck Exley. I thought it was interesting that the man (GI3) who, albeit self proclaimed, changed tech diving forever has no award named after him, but rather a large populous of people who still hold him in disdain.

As far as the growth of GUE, ask JJ point blank if he thinks GI3's attitude nearly two decades ago has cost him market share today. The guys in the inner circle know that GUE isn't growing as fast as it should be. Membership is down. Market Share isn't growing, it's floundering. It's not my stance, but the idea that the GUE people are a bunch of elitist jerks is still very much alive and kicking around here.

I wasn't referring to you specifically, I had the same observation you do in regards to the large populous that hold him in disdain. It just seems strange to me that there are so many people that seem to get so upset about all of that old stuff.

As for GUE growing or not, I wouldn't know much about that. It might be that most divers simply aren't interested in pursuing it. Most divers probably just want to take open water training and go on a vacation to dive, eat and drink beer. They might not be interested in taking any kind of training beyond a nitrox class and AOW,
a demographic that GUE wouldn't appeal to anyway

GUE may not be alone in losing market share.
Rather than taking more dive training, many divers might be spending their disposable income on other sports.

I can't imagine that there are really people out there that are saying they would love to take GUE training but they are just so upset about the internet posts from Mr. Irvine, that they won't do it.

As an instructor and cave diver, you hear more from students and their perceptions than I ever would. Maybe there are guys that have allowed those posts to change their dive training plans.

The GUE divers that I have met and dove with (Alaska, Guam, Japan) have all been very cool to me.
A big contrast from all of the internet stuff I hear people mention on the forums.

Maybe the rehashing of these old posts is an attempt by some guys to protect their own rice bowl and sort of bash GUE by highlighting these old posts. Their attempt at making the old stuff new again. Hell, I don't know. I just wanted good training, so I would have something to draw from as I moved forward.

Cheers,
Mitch

---------- Post added April 9th, 2013 at 05:31 AM ----------

a good flame war is never complete with out a reference to him or his party

I know, right?
It is so inevitable that someone will come along and refer to him, they even named a law for the practice.

Cheers,
Mitch

 

[PfcAJ]

I think GUE's market share isn't growing quickly because classes are <2000 dollars, plus gas, boat, park fees, rentals, lodging, time off from work, travel, instructor's travel (if not local), etc. Its insanely expensive to take GUE classes, and the price goes up. It puts it out of reach for damn near everybody. That said, people will pay it, and enough people pay it to keep the instructors happy. So I guess the economy has dictated the price, and 2000 bucks is the current worth of the course. For me, its worth it, and I'm glad I've taken the courses I have.

It is growing, however. There are more and more divers and more and more instructors every year.

And what did Jarrod say when you asked him about Trey?

 

[Pullmyfinger]

Way to go Chrpai.
Nobody saw that coming.:dozingoff:

 

[chrpai]

Way to go Chrpai.
Nobody saw that coming.:dozingoff:

You're welcome. And no I'm not saying GI3 = Hitler. I'm disputing the point that we should be grateful for the contributions regardless of the negatives.

Personally I wouldn't give a rats gnat if I saw GI3 on the street. Cave diving isn't my thing. And I was actually this close to taking fundies class with Bob Sherwood last month. I don't hold GI3 against GUE.

My views are not simple and one dimensional.

 

[rjack321]

I was talking real life, at dive sites, not on the forums.

Ahhh the mythical DIR diver you met at Ginnie or Peacock once who dissed you. Sorry you got your feelings hurt.