Hmmmm.... Interesting thread.
I look at this from a macro economic perspective..
It started with a cry for Manufacturers to give gear to Independent Instructors and cut out the shop (not the middle man).
D6 has been thinking about this, wants to go one step forward from HOG, and "fund" showroom displays for Independents.
However, it seems the Independents need investing in some kind of infrastructure to be successful - Air Fills & Gear Servicing are still hard (hard not impossible) to deliver over the Internet.
So the model being invoked is a thousand mini-one-instructor-LDS instead of a few larger ones?
Is this the revolution?
Assuming that a given area instead of being serviced by let's say 5 shops, is serviced by 50 mini-one-man-LDS with smaller compressors (assuming all instructors feel like going independent), selling and servicing one full line manufacturer each (ultimately there is only 4 tier 1 that matter today, plus 6-10 tier 2 or 3 ), under much stronger cost pressure given the smaller scale, offering less choice (of agency, of gear, of ability to service).
Now each instructor-entrepreneur is competing with every one else in the territory for customers.
As a consequence, instead of making an extra easy buck on gear, each one is fighting everyone else for eyeballs (please do not tell me there is enough customers for everyone)
How is this benefiting the consumer? Well, it might up to a point, as instructors might decide to forfeit margins on gear as loss leader to gain on instruction, or discount instruction and hope to make it on gear. If the instructors take on each other in a price war, the customer wins.
Is this benefiting the Instructor? On paper yes, they now get the lion's share of revenue - instruction, gear sales, and service.
However, given the above macro dynamics, the costs to maintain the full operation and acquire customers are just going to increase as share of revenue, and in the long run, operations will consolidate back into a smaller number of outfits with the necessary scale to sustain the cost structure.
So in the end, the 'revolution' seems to really work only if a number of smarter semi-independent instructors can munch on LDS selling Air Fills and Service at a loss, while they undersell the LDS (and maybe a few Internet storefronts) on some gear pieces - so that the 'Independent' have none of the costs but can clean some crumbles off the table. Is that it? Isn't that what most of the smartest independent already do with HOG and a bunch of taiwanese manufacturers?
First of all Deep 6 is a brand of dive gear that will sell great gear with great service.
We are a direct to consumer brand, that is just the way it is.
The model is NOT predicated on being distributed thru Ind Instrs., however we do want to work with some Ind Instrs that do a great job and help make it easier for them to do it, and make money along the way.
Our model is not about exclusively thru Ind Instrs however so your thoughts that we want a 1000 mini one instructors LDS's is not what we are shooting for.
I can promise you that just enabling the endless rounds of discounting is FAR from the intention
A few of your thoughts regarding what would happen if that were the case are correct in my view, thus we aren't headed down the road you think we are