now that is VERY narrow minded in my opinion. PADI has a place in diving and we all owe a little bit to them since they do a great job in pulling in a lot of people who would not do it otherwise.
The biggest thing PADI does for the industry is give it the econemy of scale which I appreciate every time I buy equipment. Do you really think there would be as much choice in equipment if it were not fot the masses that PADI pulls into diving. I agree a lot of this is low end BUT a lot of low end divers that start with PADI become high end divers eventually (although usually through other organizations) OR you have the people with more money then brains buying high end equipment. Some call this a bad thing but it does increase choice for me and in the end (although some would argue) decreases the cost of the equipment (supply and demand at work).
I am a NAUI instructor and I wish NAUI had the market presence PADI does but they don't. Some would argue that NAUI and the others would pick up the people PADI get if PADI did not exist. This may be true BUT then whom ever did would be looked upon just as PADI is today because to become a marketing based compay like PADI you have to make compromises as PADI did over time.
And for those that say we don't need the masses diving I say wake up. You like to be able to buy the equipment you need when you need it (either on line or at your LDS) then the masses are what make that possible. If the only people diving were diehards then they would eventually die off wih no new diehards to backfill.
be safe!
Pete
