Why is SSI so unresponsive to diver wants?

[tridacna]

I just use the Shearwater cloud. I have pretty close to zero interest in logging dives. There was a point in my primary OW training causing an argument when the shop insisted that I MUST have a logbook (that they conveniently would sell me). I said "Fine. For the course, I'll keep a log." My logbook was a 4x6 index card with date, location, depth, the dog/pony tricks demonstrated, and the instructor's name (no counter signature). But I let the Shearwater do it just to reach the next level in my progression... Two, perhaps three, more milestones (maybe): Sidemount doubles, DM and Deco/Tec 50.

The only thing in the book that was really noteworthy and recorded included RTB, AKR, Overheat Reef #14:

"EARTHQUAKE DIVE - magnitude 4.8 earthquake 64 miles NE of Roatan during dive. Odd higher pitched sounds followed by long, low groaning sounds lasted for several seconds. Unsettling to hear. No indication of source until later in the day during surface conversations with resort staff and other visitors.

USGS reference: us7000hjqr
16.8998N 85.7549W
Depth 10 km
22-06-23 20:37:41 GMT"

I think maybe I should request an "Earthquake Diver" Specialty card from PADI.

I was underwater for that one! I think we met on the plane on that trip. Was a weird experience indeed. Thanks for the memory!

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

I was underwater for that one! I think we met on the plane on that trip. Was a weird experience indeed. Thanks for the memory!

I think you were in 1B out of Houston.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Quite true. This was always my issue with the paper logs in particular. I found them useless. For the occasional diver that only dives on vacation, it might be doable, but when the dive count grows, the ability to reference the information is a lot harder.

For me, what I find useful is the weighting with different types of gear. I rarely dive with AL tanks or in freshwater. When one of those does come up, I can search in my electronic log and find what I used most frequently. That at least gets me in the ballpark. Then, at the end, I can add a note if that was too much weight, too little, etc.

I do think paper logs are valuable to newly certified divers, as the process of recording and comparing earlier entries helps out things in long term memory. But once one gets the hang of it, assuming they are diving frequently enough, then logbooks are not as useful.

SSI seems to have two main reasons for having the log - first, is to drive divers into their shop to get their dives 'validated'

And that is a complete pain in the αss. No thanks.

 

[Belzelbub]

And that is a complete pain in the αss. No thanks.

It's also quite unnecessary. I only used the SSI log to see if it would be useful at all. It wasn't, so I stopped.

The SSI log is absolutely not required for any training pre-requisites. Though as mentioned above, may be advisable for new divers with an instructor that may not be adhering to standards. My SSI showed a validated amount of dives even without having a single dive in the SSI log. This was done when I was taking some courses. My instructor simply asked how many dives I had done and entered that in.

Oh, and the shop I use most often carries Mares, Zeagle, Atomic, Aqualung, Shearwater, Garmin, Suunto, and others. I've never once been pressured towards Mares over any of the other brands.

 

[Nick_Radov]

For a while, SSI did support Garmin computers in a Beta program. If you go to the website, under Personal Data, you should see an Import Dives (Beta Access) option. It then states that the Connection to the Dive data has been switched off by Garmin. I'm not sure that's accurate, as I'm still able to add my Garmin Dives to Subsurface.

The Garmin Activity API probably allows access to dives, unless they have somehow filtered out dive activities? If you have access to the physical device then you can copy FIT files directly with a USB cable, just like any flash drive. The FIT file format is documented so anyone can read those files, it's pretty easy.

 

[Belzelbub]

The Garmin Activity API probably allows access to dives, unless they have somehow filtered out dive activities? If you have access to the physical device then you can copy FIT files directly with a USB cable, just like any flash drive. The FIT file format is documented so anyone can read those files, it's pretty easy.

Yeah, that’s why I don’t think that the statement on SSI’s website is entirely accurate. I currently use Subsurface for logging dives from both my Shearwater and my Garmin. No issues. I download the dive FIT file from Connect.Garmin and import. Then import that file into Subsurface. This is precisely the same method that the SSI log used.

Now, to give SSI the benefit of the doubt, it is possible that Garmin asked them to stop. Mares might be considered a competitor while Subsurface is not.

 

[Dex~]

Bec



The simple answer: Because I want too. It’s also fun to participate in their contests and giveaways which require logging in app.

You kind of have to put the effort to log your dives.. they don't want to make it easy for you

 

[rfwoodvt]

Subsurface team might be interested in your skills. There are some pretty clever people behind the program but they do struggle with syncing different computers because it’s anything but easy.

I certainly don't program professionally any more, been over 35 years. I have tried to dabble in such connectivity though and found that quite often the limitation isn't technical, it is gaining access to the objects un the host device without having to reverse engineer.

Prime example is with Suunto, once was the DLLs and SDK were accessible to most developers but now you have to be approved by Suunto, and good luck with that if you aren't a big player in the market that they are interested in giving library and data access to.

With the DLL and SDK writing a transfer protocol is easy-peasy. Without and reverse engineering on the order of decoding enigma messages is the rule.

 

[Tigerpaw]

The other answer is that due to the Mares/SSI partnership, SSI has access to the programing source code. I had sent in an email to SSI asking about the same thing. I must have spent an hour trying to connect my Shearwaters to their app. The last sentence of the e-mail said that if other computer companies were to share their source code they would add it. Of course no company is going to share their source code so that's mute.

 

[Tigerpaw]

I just use the Shearwater cloud. I have pretty close to zero interest in logging dives. There was a point in my primary OW training causing an argument when the shop insisted that I MUST have a logbook (that they conveniently would sell me). I said "Fine. For the course, I'll keep a log." My logbook was a 4x6 index card with date, location, depth, the dog/pony tricks demonstrated, and the instructor's name (no counter signature). But I let the Shearwater do it just to reach the next level in my progression... Two, perhaps three, more milestones (maybe): Sidemount doubles, DM and Deco/Tec 50.

The only thing in the book that was really noteworthy and recorded included RTB, AKR, Overheat Reef #14:

"EARTHQUAKE DIVE - magnitude 4.8 earthquake 64 miles NE of Roatan during dive. Odd higher pitched sounds followed by long, low groaning sounds lasted for several seconds. Unsettling to hear. No indication of source until later in the day during surface conversations with resort staff and other visitors.

USGS reference: us7000hjqr
16.8998N 85.7549W
Depth 10 km
22-06-23 20:37:41 GMT"

I think maybe I should request an "Earthquake Diver" Specialty card from PADI.

Cool experience. I keep both electronic and paper logs. I keep note of experiences. On my practice dives at the local lake (Wheeler) I just record depth, time and gas usage, the bare minimum. On dives to unique destinations I record more data and my experiences. Your earthquake dive, that is an AWESOME and unique experience. If that was me, I would have journaled a page or so of what happened. To that end, I've discovered that each diver is different and has different viewpoints to logging dives. To each their own.