Why are modern sneakers so ugly?

They're ugly because the market which was once (in, say, the 1980s) the "sneaker" market has segmented into two markets: casual sneakers, whose purpose is to look cool, and serious exercise shoes, whose purpose is exercise.

Serious exercise shoes need to be ugly to distinguish themselves from all-purpose sneakers.

do you also complain about how ugly 'modern' computers are? How bout emacs?

No. He's right, it is more about function than form.

as a runner, you don't really care how they look (unless you're on the cover of Runner's World you ain't gonna look pretty anyways), but rather how they are built.

honey combed webbing? for breathability . metallic silver? reflectors so you don't get run over by that guy in his F-150 who 'didn't' see you, or maybe that lady obsessively talking on her cell phone.

'gel-ified?' gel in the soles to help the shoes endure the punishment a real runner will give them.

shiny gold? see: metallic silver

Do these shoes correct the flat-footed stride that I have? Do they correct the over-pronation of my ankles? Will they endure 100-mile weeks while I train for a marathon? Do they have enough padding and support because I'm overweight?

go take your 'stan smiths' and run 5 miles and come back when your calves are shot to hell and flinders. would be better off running bare feet than in those junkers.

This is a weak post. There are literally thousands of sneaker variants available these days. He didn't have to buy the ugliest model. Also, if you actually run, your shoes get stankdified and munged up very quickly making them a poor choice for occasions where tasteful footwear might be important.

> I’d prefer the minimalist look of a pair of Stan Smiths

Those are very ugly shoes.

Why is MySpace so ugly? Because your tastes are not those of the majority.

In somewhat more surprising news, a man actually notices and cares about the appearance of his running shoes.