Cheap shoes prevent injuries?

[El Gordo]

I play chess in my socks. It's a bit dark in there, but intimate.

Regarding expensive trainers/Kayanos -- well, it's one of those human nature things, isn't it? Certainly I tend to think that if shoe A is much pricier than shoe B, it must have more good stuff in it, be better made, longer-lasting, cleverer, etc. And this may be the case -- but I suspect that a lot of the time, I'm simply following a well-established consumer foible. It's a well-known fact that the more expensive Champagne has become, the more it has sold. There is obviously a limit to this tendency but within reason, many consumers mistakenly presume that higher price = higher quality.

Even though I'm a slave to this instinct, I do sense that the running shoe industry has become a bit too clever for its own good. Whether 'less is more' developments like the 'foot glove' and less cushioned shoes are a reaction against this trend, or whether they are themselves just yet another clever twist in the never-ending urge to shift product, remains to be seen.