UWATEC Smart Computers: Voluntary Recall

[jasondbaker]

We have at least a dozen dive shops in the Twin Cities. The majority of the shops cater to people going to tropical destinations. We tried to figure out how many certified divers actually dived locally. Our best guess was around 1%.

I can't blame some of the local shops for not understanding the gear needs of local divers. They are just trying to meet the needs of their market. I was in one shop last week where they had never heard of a bolt snap before. Once I explained what it was they couldn't understand why I would need one. We represent a very small fraction of a typical dive shop's "market".

I was certified aboard a charter in grand cayman. They separated the people that had dive computers from those that did not. The people with dive computers were able to stay down longer. So, when I went to buy my first set of gear I wanted to buy a computer so I could stay down longer too. I'm happy with the purchase. But I would probably be happier if I didn't know about the alternatives.

We need a dive computer that can be easily upgraded and controlled by the user. The computer should have a USB or wirelesss connection to communicate with your PC and download updated algorithms, dive tables, notes, etc. You could connect to the internet to automatically download updates directly from the manufacturer rather than having to ship the unit back to the factory. You could generate tables in dplan or other software and upload into the computer.