Started reading this last night and just finished it now. This was a good read. I have a lot of feelings on this subject. From my POV, it makes me sad that it's come to this regarding shoes. I understand it's where we are now in this now exploited "hobby". It quantifies to what's going on. I realized that the joy of copping a new pair is now gone. The part where dude said the value of the shoe increases even after you wear it, still baffles me. But, like the article said, Nike "creates the concept" of a limited shoe. The best example of this was when the DB III's were re-released (a move that still doesn't sit right with me). But, I'm sure a lot of us knew that Nike plays with your emotions with their practices. They spend $3 billion on research alone, which includes ghost monitoring this board to see how they can raise the price on kicks with cheaper materials. We fall for it hook, line, and sinker every time. How do you think those '88 Cement III's came into existence? We *****ed and moaned for years on this board about having Nike Air on retros. The held out, and gave it to us, less than three years after re-releasing white cement III's without Nike Air. For those complaining about reseller prices, simply quit buying. As a consumer it's the strongest message you can send to a company about their products, but in Nike's case, I think it's too late. They have such a stronghold on the demographic of 7-28 year olds, it's like a never ending cycle of money. Instead of your traditional commercials, which is how they got their ealier demographic of consumers (if you are like me, recount how many times you saw Air Jordan commercials during Saturday morning cartoons, then think about what they did when they decided to cross brand Nike with Looney Tunes). They never stopped doing this. They figured out how to still reach that demo through evolving technology. Now you have rappers and celebrities, who in a lot of cases weren't known for sneakers, are now being photographed with releases that are coming out months later or won't be released. There were also fair share of celebs that were into kicks, but now it seems that everyone is into kicks, and it's done by design. But, as an average consumer in the age range of about 7- mid/late 20's, you don't necessarily think in that vein. As for me, I'll always love kicks, but reading this makes me want to fall way back. It just doesn't feel good to me anymore. It's like greed and analytics has penetrated shoe culture and it's never going back, but I digress...
