06/28/2011

Not typically a fan of extended warranties, we do make an exception: AppleCare. And that’s because had we not invested in AppleCare in the past, we would have been royally screwed. This, contrary to the Apple-products-are-rock-solid belief that many, including Shawn Blanc, share:

For the record, I bought AppleCare once. It was for my first Mac; a 12-inch PowerBook. I never needed AppleCare for that Mac, nor have I needed AppleCare for any other Apple computer or device I’ve owned since then.

Shawn’s an Apple enthusiast, so we can assume he’s owned his fare share of Apple devices. Still, our own experience has made AppleCare invaluable, as we can’t even remember every time some Apple device needed this or that fixed/replaced. But, off the top of our head:

• Our iPod Mini needed replacement after the battery stopped, well, charging.
• The RAM in our 17″ Powerbook needed to be replaced after the computer stopped booting.
• The logic board in our 17″ Powerbook needed to be replaced after the screen developed random, horizontal lines.
• Our iPhone 3GS needed replacing after it stopped turning on.
• The RAM in out 17″ MacBook Pro needed to be replaced after the computer stopped booting.
• The logic board on our 17″ MacBook Pro needed to be replaced after the computer stopped booting.
• The battery on our 17″ MacBook Pro needed to be replaced after it exploded.¹
• Our TimeCapsule’s hard drive died and needed to be replaced.

It’s not even that we beat up on our hardware – we’re actually quite anal about our equipment staying in a pretty pristine condition. And again, this is just off the top of our head, as we’re fairly certain that we brought our 17″ monsters into a local Apple Store more than this in order to get stuff fixed. Between these problems and those our friends/family have encountered over the last several years, we consider AppleCare a pretty good deal, as we’re well ahead in what we otherwise would have paid on getting things fixed outside of the basic Apple warranty.

Mind you, this isn’t to say that Apple quality sucks (because we still consider Apple gear better than competing products), merely that any sufficiently complex technological device is bound to have problems. We’re just on the opposite end of the spectrum than Shawn, who has apparently been very lucky with his Apple gear.² We’ve had no problems with our more recent Apple purchases (Mac Mini, iPhone 4, iPad, and iPad 2), but three out of four are different beasts compared to traditional Apple computers. If anything, we’d recommend AppleCare for any traditional Apple computer purchase, but may be hesitant to recommend it for Apple mobile devices.

Similar Posts:

• The iPod Touch is a baby iPad. – One of the common quips about the iPad is that it’s nothing more than a “large iPod Touch.” It’s a s…
• Bridget Riley strikes. – My computer workhorse is a 17″ G4 Powerbook that replaced my old 15-incher. At the time, my PC was h…
• The MacBook Air and the iPad. – At the recent Back to the Mac event, Apple unveiled their redone Macbook Air, which now comes in two…

The iPhone Blog posted a poll today asking how people tend to use the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, and surprisingly, after 3k votes, portrait-based use is currently in the lead. We guess that this is based primarily on the amount of screen real-estate left after the virtual keyboard is displayed, as the landscape keyboard hides so much of the screen. If the same poll were held for the iPad, we would assume the results to be different: the landscape keyboard, while still hiding more of the screen than the portrait-based version, still leaves enough showing that enough of the working document can be seen to still be useful. Further, the iPad, simply being a larger device, lends itself better to a higher quantity of words typed, whereas the iPhone is generally used more for quick snippets of data input.

The fact that the iPad’s landscape-based keyboard is more popular is evidenced by the number of cases and stands that put the iPad in a landscape orientation in which the rear of the device is slightly elevated. This makes sense from a matter of comfort, but what if the user wants to use a physical keyboard? In this scenario, Apple’s bluetooth implementation works splendidly, allowing users a platform much better suited for considerable text input, if only for the tactile feedback of a real keyboard. The problem with this setup is that because most accessories are built around the landscape-based virtual keyboard as the ideal method for data input, users are typically forced to keep their iPads in landscape orientation, even when a physical keyboard is used.

Take Apple’s Smart Cover, for example. It works as a great stand for when the iPad is to be propped up in landscape view, effectively emulating the screen of a notebook computer. The Smart Cover is not, however, smart enough to realize that some users prefer portrait orientation when using a physical keyboard¹. Often, we wish our Smart Cover didn’t fold up on the long-side of the iPad, but rather the short-side, which would allow us to have a portrait-based stand. The Smart Cover is only one example, however: look at the enormous number of case options for the iPad, and see how many of them work well as a stand in portrait view.

The forced-use of landscape orientation remains problematic when using the iPad on a lap alongside a physical keyboard: people’s laps simply aren’t long enough to accommodate both devices when the iPad is oriented for a portrait view². Some stands, like the official Apple iPad dock, are designed specifically for portrait view, because the dock connector is at the bottom. This is the option we opted for with our original iPad, but we didn’t replace the dock when we moved to an iPad 2 because the dock is oddly-shaped for travel, and serves a very niche purpose; for lap use, like when we’re lounging on the couch, the iPad dock is useless³.

Kickstarter project goDock attempts to solve the issue of multiple-orientation-use of the iPad on one’s lap. Unlike most keyboard/iPad cases that lock the screen in landscape orientation, the goDock is more of a sleeve that holds both an iPad and a keyboard, and then allows the user to place the iPad into an insert in either orientation, effectively simulating a notebook computer experience, albeit with the flexibility of adjusting screen orientation. The goDock is a unique accessory, and would replace one’s current iPad sleeve, which isn’t necessarily fitting for everyone⁴.

We can’t help but think that a more convenient accessory for the iPad would be a well-designed “clip” that attaches to Apple’s bluetooth keyboard with a stand for the iPad in either orientation. This would be a fairly small gadget, would complement existing iPad accessories, and allow one to use the iPad in a lap environment without forcing the user into a given orientation. There are several accessories that exist to incorporate a physical keyboard into an iPad user’s workflow, but nothing yet that’s this versatile which maintains the iPad’s flexibility for supreme mobility when a physical keyboard isn’t needed.

Similar Posts:

• Compact keyboard stands for the iPad. – Talking about stands for the iPad that would work just as well regardless of iPad orientation, and r…
• iPad setup time is negligible. – Following up on [our comments](http://beastwith.in/?p=2203) regarding the iPad and MacBook Air, we’d…
• The problem with iPhone docks. – Recently, John Gruber linked to a new Kickstarter campaign for a fairly nice iPhone dock, called the…

The 2011 autumn lineup for Vibram’s FiveFinger’s line looks good. Birthday Shoes, the de facto outlet for Vibram FiveFingers news, reports on several intriguing new models which are much more fashion-friendly than previous designs (at least, as fashion-friendly as toe-shoes can be). Previously, the most covert FiveFingers model was the original Trek, sporting a one-colour leather exterior in either dark brown or black. This autumn, men will also have the option of sporting the Bormio, which is an ankle-height leather “boot,” as well as the Trek LS which is basically a lace-up version of the Trek with, presumably, more leather and less elastic. We can easily see our original Trek becoming a pure hiking shoe, and using a Trek LS for most casual outings. The Bormio could fill this same role in cooler months, and if it ends up being mostly water resistant, we can finally get rid of our hiking books that we keep around purely for when it’s raining hard or snowing.

The bit about lace-ups is also interesting, because frankly, lace-up FiveFingers are awesome; we own a pair of Speeds that we ordered from the UK, and they’re quickly becoming our favorite shoe. The sizing wasn’t obvious for us, but the fit is fantastic with the laces, and so we have high hopes for the Trek LS. The only thing we would have preferred is for the Trek LS to have a non-Trek sole (necessitating a name-change, obviously) because we find the thickness of the Trek sole unnecessary for day-to-day use. The Trek sole makes more sense in the Bormio (as it’s a boot), and here it’s gladly welcomed. Of course, the Speeds are also coming to US shores, so that means that North Americans will be able to pick a pair up for much cheaper than ordering from Europe.

We’re not too enthused about the rest of the lineup, though admit, amusingly, that if we were of the female persuasion, we’d be giddy to pick up a pair of high, furry-topped Kangas. Birthday Shoes has pics of all these models, and more.

Similar Posts:

• Fivefingers: beyond the first week. – Our first week wearing Vibram Fivefingers made for an interesting experience, and while we intended …
• A Five Fingers journal. – We randomly came across mention of Vibram Five Fingers over at the Mnmlist blog, where author Leo bo…
• Keeping Nike’s grubby paws off my $29. – I hate running. It’s a boring, uncomfortable routine that months of practicing didn’t make any more …

Classic World of Warcraft (WoW) defender Tobold discusses player skill versus character skill in the context of “twitch” versus “strategy,” effectively accusing anyone who complains about WoW’s lack of skill requirement as downplaying the strategic elements required. This follows a number of complaints people have with “twitch” games in general (i.e. those games requiring quick reflexes and hand-eye coordinating like most first-person shooters). It’s an argument that’s heavily drawn a line between the players of games like WoW and, say, Darkfall.

Now some people believe that a MMORPG should be an action arcade game, a kind of Super Mario, in which your twitch skills (hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness) should determine your success. And these people often are using a dirty trick in the discussion: They claim that only twitch skills are “skill”, while other video game skills like strategy skills or puzzle skills are “not skill”.

But that’s not really what people are saying when they dismiss WoW as a game requiring little skill. Rather, it’s that WoW has successively become a game in which less and less strategy is required by a player, since the game has, instead, provided the opportunity for players to obtain high-powered gear rather easily, which makes up for a lack of strategy. In other words, had Blizzard reduced the potency of gear in WoW, it would require players to use more strategy (e.g. better spell rotations and timing), but that would mean not as many players would be able to accomplish certain in-game achievements. Blizzard’s decision was to make the game’s content more accessible to the vast majority of players, and thus more powerful gear was made accessible to people as a sort if crutch.

In this regard, most WoW-haters who rely on the “no skill” argument are likely to place “old school” WoW on a higher pedestal, since there was less wiggle-room when it came to player skill back in 2004. But since, Blizzard has reduced the need for strategic excellence.

Darkfall, and games like it, do rely more on “twitch”-based skill. Darkfall’s developers decided that strategy elements in traditional MMORPGs like WoW were themselves too simple, even if gear bonuses were drastically reduced. While Tobold is correct in saying that the developers could have made the strategic elements of the game more complex in lieu of relying on “twitch” mechanics, the developers decided that the latter allows for an easier learning curve. Either way, Darkfall is less accessible to the same number of players as WoW, since it does not offer the same gear-based crutch that WoW does.

So while Tobold and his supporters dislike the “twitch” play-style and believe that games should be more strategic to be considered “skill-based,” the ultimate blame here still falls on Blizzard. At this point, few people disagree with the notion that WoW has become dumbed down in great part because of gear inflation. It’s simply that some people want gear to be reduced in power, others want more “twitch,” and others yet want more strategy. Blizzard, however, is the one doing neither of these things.

Yet, Tobold blames the players:

It is simply not true that there is no challenge at all available in World of Warcraft. Instead what happens is that players DELIBERATELY are constantly working on LOWERING the skill requirements, through maximizing their “efficiency” of gear / talent builds / everything else, and even through the use of third-party programs (addons) which make encounters much easier.

How is it that the players should be to blame for min/maxing what the game provides them? Sure, people can play the game with bad gear in order to artificially increase the game’s challenge, but doing so only affects the players participating. If Blizzard offered “hardcore” servers with bad gear, so everyone was in a similar situation, then this option might be attractive to many, but if we’re given a certain number of tools at our disposal, why shouldn’t we use them, and why should we deny ourselves these tools just so someone who does use them can easily pass us by in terms of content progress?

The reason I personally dislike the “WoW needs no skill” crowd is that I always suspect them of elitism. Their main interest isn’t in playing through something hard, because they already could do that. Their main interest is in excluding a broader audience from the game, or from certain types of content.

Ultimately, success at a challenge is sweeter when only a sub-set of the whole has achieved it. Otherwise, is it truly success, or is it just a matter of putting in the time? Tobold’s position comes down to one of selfishness: he believes that just by paying his monthly fee and putting in a certain amount of time, that he should be rewarded the same as everyone else, even if he’s not as good of a player. The “elitists” he points at, on the other hand, believe that better players should be better rewarded. In a sense, it really is an argument for or against welfare, and whether simply contributing by logging on warrants a full game experience. But it’s certainly not an argument of “twitch” versus strategy – those are just fancy labels improperly used to discuss WoW’s gear inflation.

Similar Posts:

• World of Warcraft is not sustainable. – Tobold recently mused about the [sustainability of World of Warcraft](http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r…
• Level design trumps PUG elitism. – When Keen complained about public five-man groups in World of Warcraft (WoW) being ultra-selective a…
• How Blizzard can fund a longer leveling game. – Earlier this month, syncaine at Hardcore Casual suggested that because World of Warcraft (WoW) is a…

Our first week wearing Vibram Fivefingers made for an interesting experience, and while we intended to post an immediate followup, the delay may have been fortuitous, since we’re now four months in and have more insight into the journey we embarked on. The shoes look no less weird now than they did back in March, but we’re substantially more comfortable in them now, and our distaste for “conventional” shoes is now less theory, and more practically-grounded.

Transitioning.

We talked about muscle soreness in our calves before, and while the soreness dissipated, we didn’t expect the second wave to be so severe. This followed our first one-mile run, which we probably shouldn’t have completed in the first place. They say that barefoot running should be taken on gradually, with only five minute runs at first, moving on to ten minutes a week or two later, etc. We, however, we stupid enough to will ourselves through a whole mile, which in our case, took longer than five minutes, halfway through to which, our calves were already asking us to stop. For some reason, we were determined to complete the big 1.0, however, and when we finally stopped, our calves decided to swear off running for another several days. The resulting calf soreness easily lasted a week and a half, and was akin to us doing strenuous calf exercises, with weights, to the point of exhaustion – that’s how bad the soreness was.

Interestingly, the muscle soreness we’ve experienced since has been somewhat different. As our calves strengthened, next up was soreness in our achilles tendon. More recently, without a solid routine of running, but still wearing Fivefingers for walking around, our more recent jogs haven’t caused more than occasional light soreness on the sides of our calves.

We’ve also experienced (we believe to a slowly lessening extent), a pain somewhere near our fifth metatarsals when we get up in the morning and first begin to walk around. We understand that this is a common phenomenon with barefoot runners either starting out, and perhaps not easing into it quite as slowly as we should; barefoot runners tend to land their feet on the side of the forefoot, which places pressure on an area we’re not used to putting much pressure on. Our bones and tendons here need to built up their strength, so this is likely the pain we’re feeling. Microfractures, for example, are common because of this pounding, and we’re guessing that our early morning pain may be related to this. After several seconds, the pain dissipates and we’re fine the rest of the day.

We also mentioned previously that landing on the balls of our feet caused some small amount of pain during our first week wearing Fivefingers. We can now confirm that this was temporary. Indeed, not only does one’s body toughen up after running more naturally, but you really do learn to run again. Part of this relearning is subconscious – you just sort of fall into it. The rest requires some amount of conscious effort to change your habits, and at some later point the subconscious may take over until you’re running like a kid again. For us, we’re still grappling with some aspects of running barefoot, primarily as it concerns weight – we tend to land with “heavy” feet, and haven’t yet mastered the elastic bounce that barefoot runners tend to have.

Still awkward, too, is walking fast. At a slow pace, walking isn’t changed much, as landing with our heel landing first feels fine. It’s when we increase our pace that we realize we’re heel-stomping, but we’re not quite moving fast enough yet for a mid-foot or fore-foot landing to feel natural. At this pace, we’re somewhere between worlds, and we either look stupid wrestling with a gait we’re not used to, else we suck up the heel slams and just move on. A good part of this is because strides are shorter when barefoot, and when we walk fast, we’re used to increasing our stride for added speed, and this doesn’t work well for us in Fivefingers.

The wear.

We were originally concerned somewhat that the lack of padding with Fivefingers would make longer jaunts less comfortable, but to the contrary, we’ve noticed no more discomfort than standing for long periods in normal shoes. If anything, the fact that more of our feet can move in Fivefingers makes wearing them for longer periods less annoying than wearing the foot cages we were previously used to.

Temperature was a problem during March when we weren’t running, and when autumn approaches, we hope to have a better arsenal for dealing with this. Since purchasing our KSOs, we’ve since picked up a pair of Mocs that replaced our indoors slippers, and recently, we bought a pair of Treks to class things up a tad; the kangaroo leather of the Treks makes them slightly more fashionable (assuming you can make gorilla feet fashionable, that is). We hope that wearing socks with our Treks will both make them warmer, thus allowing us to extend our Fivefingers season an extra month or two, and also make them stink less than our KSOs.

The stink, as reported by many other Fivefingers users, isn’t fun. It may not be worse than running in sneakers barefoot, but it’s the definite downside to not wearing socks with a shoe. This means that we need to wash our KSOs at least once every two weeks, and more if we wear it beyond just working out. We bought our Treks for most non-athletic wear (outside of hiking), but we may start wearing socks with the KSOs as the weather cools as well. We’d strongly recommend this if you’re squeamish about foot odor and don’t want to wash your Fivefingers pretty routinely.

Another reason for the Treks was to take on more adventurous hikes in the future. We hope to replace our hiking boots with the Treks once we develop our muscles and feet up some more, and the added traction of Trek soles will be useful. While we can see using the KSOs for light hiking, the razor sipped soles don’t stand up to slippery rocks, and simply don’t offer adequate traction when scrambling around. That’s been an issue for us when playing around rivers, where slippery rocks are plentiful. Arguably, the Flows may be a better buy for these situations, and it begs the question as to why Vibram hasn’t brought the Flow Treks to the United States, as they’re arguably the perfect backcountry hiking shoe for minimalists. Until they do, the basic Trek will have to suffice.

The linky.

We wanted to post some linkage for would-be, or new, Fivefingers wearers. The first link addresses long pants dragging on the ground because of a shorter sole profile on the Fivefingers. The trick is to attack a small s-biner to the loop on the read of the Fivefingers, and sliding the edge of your pant-leg into the other end of the s-biner. This keeps your pants from scraping against the ground and even getting caught under your heel, and it’s barely noticeable without close inspection.

The second link is a video on barefoot running techniques, sponsored by Terra Plana, another company who produces minimalist running shoes. While other videos on the topic exist, this one is more practically-oriented, suggesting exercises to promote better running techniques before one gets their actual run on.

The addiction.

We’ve almost averaged one pair of Fivefingers per month since buying our first pair. The model lineup, while expanding, isn’t likely to convince us to get yet another pair anytime soon, but the differences between some of the models are important to note. For those considering jumping on the bandwagon, we still maintain that the KSO is a great middle-line option, or the Sprint if you’re not fond of the extra mesh the KSO offers. Unless you only want a Fivefingers shoe for a very specific purpose, like running or yoga, then you can’t go wrong with the KSO/Sprint.

It’s true that we hate wearing “regular” shoes now. Not only do they feel cramped, but the extra height of the heel, and whatever padding it contains, is something we now see as a burden rather than a comfort. In fact, even wearing sandals now fees uncomfortable.

And, of course, we find ourselves attracted to unpaved surfaces, be it dirt, grass, or gravel. Something about feeling the ground beneath you becomes exciting, instead of just bulldozing forward with blocks on your feet and finding anything but flat asphalt annoying. The only thing we’re missing now is a similar shoe that can get away by being seen in a professional environment, and that’s a trick we’re not sure even Vibram can manage just yet.

Similar Posts:

• More toe shoes! – The 2011 autumn lineup for Vibram’s FiveFinger’s line looks good. Birthday Shoes, the de facto outle…
• A Five Fingers journal. – We randomly came across mention of Vibram Five Fingers over at the Mnmlist blog, where author Leo bo…
• Week of tweets: 2011-02-13. – There's a distinct lack of good blogging software for the iPad. The WordPress and BlogPress ap…

We randomly came across mention of Vibram Five Fingers over at the Mnmlist blog, where author Leo bought a pair despite his “less stuff” philosophy. Curiosity piqued, we had to check them out, and so we started to do our research on the Five Fingers, and the barefoot philosophy that’s earned a very strong niche following.

Background.

It turns out, our feet evolved into one of our most complex skeletal features for a reason. With so many bones and joints, our feet are designed to be incredibly adaptable to terrain changes, aided in part by the feedback our brains get when the terrain beneath us changes form (causing us to shift our posture, gait, stride, etc). In addition to our physical endurance, this evolution allowed humans to become persistence hunters, in which we effectively ran our prey to their deaths. And, we were able to do this despite the fact that we did not strap hooves to our feet.

That all changed when aesthetic variables came into play in the western world. Earlier generations wore leather footwear roughly equivalent to what we think of as a moccasin. This provided our feet with basic protection, but apparently not enough visual appeal. So, Europeans added impractical heels to our footwear, which required a thicker, less flexible sole. The result was an arguably more appealing figure, complete with the curves and stance still present in modern fashion. Of course, this change also resulted in footwear that cut off much of the tactile feedback our brains got from our feet feeling the ground beneath us. Furthermore, with more rigid soles and heels, we began walking “heel-first,” and rolling our feet to our toes before kicking off. This was a far cry from earlier days, when the balls or middle of our feet hit the ground first, and our toes sprung our next kick forward.

Interestingly, you can see the difference between walking with shoes and walking barefoot immediately. Even if it’s the same person. Try it out yourself and pay attention.

Some studies show that the thicker a shoe’s heel/sole, the harder a wearer slams their heel into the ground when walking, as though the brain is subconsciously trying to get the feedback it desires. This heel-slamming that we do in modern society, it damages our knees and joints, because it’s not how our bodies were designed to take shocks. Similarly, changes in posture, resulting from modern shoes, provide other problems as well, such as shin splints, back pain, and the aforementioned knee problems. All because shoes themselves, courtesy of thick soles, aren’t good for our bodies.

The shoe industry, of course, has adopted. It puts a band-aid on some of our problems by adding more cushion, or curving the toes up to make up for the lack of spring our toes would naturally provide. They add “pumps,” soles that flair out, arch support, and a whole slew of other changes (not to mention aesthetic ones), but few companies look to actually alleviate the health problems modern footwear has produced by directly tackling the underlying issues.

Vibram is a company that’s actually looking to address the core problem. They, and other companies, believe in producing shoes with very thin soles, allowing our brains to get far more tactile feedback than with conventional footwear. Most companies like this still opt for close-toed shoes that still benefit somewhat from additional toe movement, but Vibram took things to another level with their Five Fingers line.

Five Fingers are gloves for feet. They provide a thin Vibram sole and pockets for individual toes. This allows a wearer’s toes to move independently and provide natural spring to a run, and because the wearer can utilize their toes more naturally, and their feet too, stability and agility are enhanced accordingly. Vibram’s idea was to give people the barefoot advantage and still provide some level of protection, and judging from the many reviews out there, Vibram has succeeded stunningly with their Five Fingers line.

Models, and sizing.

When we decided to pull the trigger on a Five Fingers shoe, we first had to determine what model we wanted. The main factor in our decision was that we wanted a jack-of-all-trades shoe for daily use. We would still be wearing dress shoes to the office, but when at home, or working out, we wanted a shoe that would work just as well around town as it did running on pavement or going on light hikes. For us, this meant a shoe that was closed on top, and that eliminated three models from the get-go (Classic, Moc, and Sprint). One of three remaining models was ideal for watersports (Flow), but not necessarily for land sports, and one model (KSO Trek) came with a somewhat thicker sole offering better traction for more robust hiking. The “do-all” model that, perhaps, wasn’t overly specialized, was the KSO.

While REI carries the Five Fingers, their selection varies from store to store. Some stores, in fact, don’t carry them at all, and those that do have stocking issues because supply isn’t currently meeting demand. The KSOs and Treks require a size-down adjustment from the other models, so while our local REI didn’t have the KSOs in our size, we were able to try on three sizes in the Classics and Sprints. By the time we left the store, we figured we’d be a 40 in the KSOs, and immediately got online to place an order. Of course, by the time our order arrived, we were dismayed to find that the shoe was too small. It turns out that the black/black KSOs run small, so we returned our 40s and placed another order.

The 41s we received were quite snug. Arguably, we could have gone up another size, and we’re fairly confident that a 41 would be perfect in any other colour or model. Still, the 41s in KSO black/black didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. So, we took them for a spin.

Day one.

Because of the toe pockets, and that our toes are used to being scrunched up somewhat in traditional shoes, getting the KSOs on took a couple minutes. It’s not difficult, but it still takes a little patience to get the smaller toes lined up correctly. In our case, it was the little toe that didn’t naturally slide into its own pocket right away, and instead curled towards its neighbor for safety.

Walking around the house felt good, like some odd combination of socks and slippers. Stepping outside where it was around 50 degrees out, our feet immediately felt the chill. The mesh on top of the shoes doesn’t do much for keeping wind out, and though our long bootcut jeans may have helped a little, it wasn’t enough. With certainty, we can say that we felt the ground better, but we obviously didn’t notice small gravel on the sidewalks. It wasn’t until we stepped on a rock about the size of a marble that we felt uncomfortable pressure, which we would have just rolled over without much thought in our other shoes.

Back to the jeans, the thin sole of the KSOs obviously reduces our height somewhat. In hiking boots, which we’re used to wearing, our jeans are the perfect length, but with most casual shoes, the edge of the back can drag on the ground. Similarly, with the KSOs, our jeans end up getting dirty because the back bottom either ends up dragging on the ground, else is outright stepped on. Without buying a new pair or becoming a seamstress, we figure we can just deal with it, else maybe cut a small slit in the back so the bottom flays out a bit more. Either way, future jeans purchases will take this into account.

A quick trip through town proved that the KSOs were comfortable. We were concerned with the snugness of the fit more than once, not because there was any discomfort, but out of buyer’s paranoia. In fact, our toes had great movement through the shoes despite that two toes on each foot were pretty much touching the end of their respective toe pockets. If anything, the feel of the wind, that we could spread our toes, and the thin sole, pretty much made our feet feel like they were barefoot, or at least close to it. But how would they hold up running?

We decided to go for a jog with our dog, and ended up doing a couple sprints along what amounted to approximately 16 blocks. It quickly became obvious that running on pavement and landing on the balls of one’s feet isn’t exactly super-comfortable. That is to say, impact to this area of the foot isn’t something we were used to while running. It didn’t hurt, but we half expected to bruise this area of the foot if we continued on. Beyond this expectation, however, our feet felt fine, and we naturally avoided landing with our heels. Indeed, it may simply have been a placebo of sorts, but we felt like we could spring forward from a stride much easier now that our toes we free from their typical footwear cages.

Stability-wise, our short jaunt felt good. So good, in fact, that we felt tempted to jump up on low walls like a newbie ninja-in-training. There’s a reason people don’t tend to roll their ankles when barefoot, and that stability is offered by the Five Fingers without question. It’ll probably take a while to acclimate our bodies to barefoot movement overall, but at slower speeds, the transition is automatic, if only because we’re used to moving around barefoot slowly. At speed is in another issue, because it’s rare that we run around barefoot, so it’s no surprise that when we enter speed-walking or running mode, that we tend to drop our heels into the ground pretty heavily.

By the end of our little jog, we noticed that our feet had warmed up considerably, and that they felt pretty cozy by the time we returned home. Given the temperature outside, we estimate that it’d be pretty comfortable running in these shoes most of the year on the east coast.

The next three days.

When we woke up the following morning, we definitely noticed soreness in our calves. Reports from other new Five Fingers users noted this pain, but we casually dismissed it. But no, it’s true: the muscles designed to stabilize our feet while moving barefoot atrophy in most individuals because they’re simply not used much thanks to modern footwear. In our case, our calves felt about what we expect them to the day after working them out at the gym, only in this situation, we didn’t intend to work them out specifically, and didn’t notice much stress on them in our very short run the day earlier.

With limited time to work out the next couple days, we simply managed to go on short walks after work in our Five Fingers, dog in tow. Nothing particularly notable about these walks other than an adjustment in gait to compensate for the heel-striking in our normal, long stride. We’ll add, though, that we naturally began to prefer walking on grass or dirt than pavement, because it feels so much better. In normal shoes, we like the idea of walking off pavement, but stability-wise, pavement feels better. In Five Fingers, walking off-road is simply a better experience all-around.

That said, hanging out in the dog park, which at this time of year is a little muddy, tended to make the bottom of our feet cold when we weren’t moving much. Just throwing a ball around with minimal movement around the field definitely impacted foot comfort, as our feet would have been more comfortable at least wearing socks. Given that our KSOs are already very snug, we’ll likely rule out socks unless we later decide to get a slightly roomier pair of Five Fingers. We’ll still wear our KSOs in these situations, but when autumn sheds into winter later in the year, we’ll obviously have to make a decision as to what to do.

On our last walk in the Five Fingers over the three day period owning the KSOs, we walked over an old cobblestone street, which made us realize the implications of barefoot movement. Modern society, or in this case recent history, clearly dictated adjustments to footwear even beyond aesthetic considerations. Using the cobblestone street as an example, moving across the man-made pathway in our KSOs was about as uncomfortable as driving a car down the same stretch. While the walk was fine when we carefully chose our footing for each step, moving from stone-top to stone-top, a blind walk down the street simply wasn’t comfortable.

We’d be happy to hear that this was only because we’re not used to the feeling, and that our feet will toughen up to this type of terrain over time, but given the experience, we reckon we’d sooner avoid these types of streets in the future. Picturing us distracted where our gaze isn’t on the stones in front of us, we can only imagine a painful outcome to a run down this same street. That said, after returning home, the Five Fingers remained on our feet, where they felt super-comfortable just hanging out. We can definitely see replacing our slippers with a pair of Mocs in the future.

By day three, only a slight soreness in our calves remain. This weekend, we’ll opt for more activity in our KSOs, as we intend to wear them all weekend long. We’ll continue to comment on the experience as time goes on, and if there is reader interest.

Similar Posts:

• Fivefingers: beyond the first week. – Our first week wearing Vibram Fivefingers made for an interesting experience, and while we intended …
• More toe shoes! – The 2011 autumn lineup for Vibram’s FiveFinger’s line looks good. Birthday Shoes, the de facto outle…
• Keeping Nike’s grubby paws off my $29. – I hate running. It’s a boring, uncomfortable routine that months of practicing didn’t make any more …