The language of Ben's description is misleading. He's having you add acid continuously because he's ASSUMING you are aerating constantly, which will drive pH up continuously.

The lower levels of pH he prescribes will make the process move much more quickly, but are for a plaster or concrete pool...NEVER run your pH below 6.9 in a vinyl pool.

The process I laid out is not really any different than Ben's. It is a little simpler to understand and implement but it relies on the same underlying chemestry: Lowering pH pulls Alk down, and aerating raises pH without raiser Alk.

I and the other moderators and other experienced posters had the benefit of working with Ben's method and refining it. The ratcheting mechanism is a clearer way of doing the same thing. You SEE Alk fall with each subsequent dosing to lower pH. You SEE pH rise from aeration without raising Alk.

It's not as obvious that this is happening in Ben's description, but it it is. It is the same chemistry at work. They are not contradictory to each other.