I MO computers do not rot your brain, that job is monopolized by network television. Like any other tools, computers make a task easier, in this case allowing you to concentrate on other things.
Along the same line of reasoning do balanced regulators atrophy your diaphragm muscles?
While any device can fail todays computers are very reliable. When used properly they tend to eliminate human calculation errors. They also perform their appointed tasks much faster than a human could. Lets not forget that computers got the astronauts to the moon, they control every major commercial aircraft and most of our infrastructure (telephone, power, transportation).
As a new diver I have sensed that the SCUBA community generally seems to be very resistant to change. A good example of this is the introduction of Nitrox as described in The Last Dive, a very good read by the way. This phenomenon applies to computers.
I take with a grain of salt the statistical information that more people get bent using computers. This information in itself is of dubious value unless all of the mitigating factors can be removed, a task that is probably impossible. For example, what is the experience level of computer users versus gauge users? What was their experience with the computer? Had they recently switch from gauges to computer?
Im new to SCUBA and always willing to learn, but from what Ive learned so far here is my philosophy.
For recreational diving which means:
1. No mandatory decompression stops.
2. No overhead obstructions.
3. An equipment failure ends the dive.
4. You dive with a buddy.
All you need is an air integrated dive computer. Your buddys computer provides redundancy. If either computer fails, the dive is over and you surface safely using the working computer. Any type of backup is money that could be better spent elsewhere in an expensive sport. Also, any type of backup, a pressure gauge for example just adds complication (oh no, I feel the influence of DIR, another good book by the way). In my estimation, the chances of human error associated with switching from a failed computer to a backup timer, pressure and depth gauges, during a dive, are orders of magnitude higher than that of a computer failure and an unacceptable risk.
Of course diving outside the realm of recreational diving is a whole different question. Im not ready to tackle that just yet, I need more experience, but my guess is the safest approach, although expensive would be to have two identical computers as described in The Last Dive. As a side note, its interesting that none of the accidents described in either the Last Dive or the first half of the Andrea Dora book, all of which happened to very experienced divers, are the result of, or influenced by, computer failure.
Mike
