I don't really care that much about the Pass. It seems that these days people do it for "magical masturbation"... to show off to other magicians and do a hard move invisibly just for the sake of not being caught.
I disagree. Everyone knows that magical masturbation is XCM.
Erdnase wrote that in the context of executing it at the card table. Some of the movements he describes do not allow for the fastest pass, they make it hard to see (IMO, only to people on your right). In the context of being a magician, I would say the faster the pass, the better, because it'll take less misdirection to accomplish the feat without having the spectators know anything happened.
Also disagree.
Although the 2 handed shift is in the card cheat section, Erdnase describes the pass as taking place 'in a flash, with the hands perfectly at rest' (pg97 I think)
That implies a speed much faster than most magicians today, to say nothing of the hand movements.
I am extremely fortunate to have seen the classic pass damm near perfectly done, and I can tell you that Erdnase's description is spot on. The magician in question learnt the pass with the text from 'Expert at the Card Table' and nothing else.
I am willing to bet that most magicians who have really mastered the pass (Jerry Sadowitz, Larry Jennings, etc) had nothing more than S.W. Erdnase's instructions.
Also, your claim that Erdnase's technique tends to be covered from the right is incorrect. The right side is actually the one most likely to flash.