Post #1187324
2026-04-16 09:46 UTC
Replies (11)
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@patterfloof@meow.social 2026-04-16 09:50
@V0ldek@awful.systems @sansruse@awful.systems so we've not got evidence for the Shoe Event Horizon https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/930632
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@cstross@wandering.shop 2026-04-16 09:50
@V0ldek@awful.systems @techtakes Bro we all run on tank tracks these days, we're all absolutely crushing it in the workplace Bro shoes are so pre-AI, you can't grow forever all the way to upload heaven on a sole (Pops another Special K)
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@pikesley@mastodon.me.uk 2026-04-16 09:49
@V0ldek@awful.systems @sansruse@awful.systems Shoes were *huge* during Covid, do you not remember when all our feet swelled up? Sorry
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@hp@mastodon.tmm.cx 2026-04-16 09:51
@V0ldek@awful.systems @sansruse@awful.systems I'm sure a lot of people thought what with the mRNA vaccines people would grow at least one extra leg. When that didn't happen, well...
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@A_C_McGregor@topspicy.social 2026-04-16 09:54
@V0ldek@awful.systems @sansruse@awful.systems @cstross@wandering.shop The serious answer is that, like many smaller high street retailers, its business - and its business model - got entirely destroyed by the pandemic.
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@marjolica@social.linux.pizza 2026-04-16 10:13
@V0ldek@awful.systems @sansruse@awful.systems another Meme stock, like Tesla and OpenAI? Where the valuation bears no relation to actual sales or profitability. And now it seems they are trying again.
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@Seruko@mstdn.social 2026-04-16 10:35
@V0ldek@awful.systems @sansruse@awful.systems There was a big consumer migration from brick and mortar to online. All of the people who thought themselves the smartest people in the room just knew that would last forever And that the trend in growth would never stop. "Line go up forever!" The line did not got up forever, and in 22-23 when there was a return to brick and motor many online businesses were hurt from Amazon to online shoe retail.
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@WellsiteGeo@masto.ai 2026-04-16 10:38
@V0ldek@awful.systems @sansruse@awful.systems Didn't you read the 4th or 5th volumes of the Hitchhikers trilogy? Where the Golgafrinchan's (?) economy went through the "Shoe Event Horizon" after the B-ark left, and the survivors took flight, very literally. Built a 5km tall statue of DentArthurDent throwing a teacup, and nested in the teacup. All predicted. Techbrodudes making reality match (published) history.
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@chetman@hachyderm.io 2026-04-16 15:07
@V0ldek@awful.systems @cstross@wandering.shop It’s wild. I have some of the shoes. They’re very comfy and cozy. It seemed like making cozy shoes should’ve been a viable business, but greedheads got involved. This is yet another episode of Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.
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@ulf@mastodon.nz 2026-04-16 18:26
[@V0ldek](https://awful.systems/u/V0ldek) [@sansruse](https://awful.systems/u/sansruse) The shoes are/were good. I wear them daily now. Every librarian I know in New Zealand wears them to work, a quick poll in my wider development team at work had 80% of the people wearing them that day and 90% owned at least one pair. My guess is someone convinced the founders they could break into the US market and become billionaires, so they took on debt and VC funding and were crushed under the repayments when it didn’t work out. If they’d been happy making good shoes, taking home a million bucks a year and staying a profitable business in NZ, I think they’d still be doing that. Greed mucks everything up…
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@lkanies@hachyderm.io 2026-04-16 19:23
[@V0ldek](https://awful.systems/u/V0ldek) VCs and tech founders loved them, and thought everyone else would too