Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Check out the reviews on this product and you'll notice that while the average is high, the *recent* reviews are rather poor. Why? Rockport decided to increase their profit by drastically downgrading the quality of the shoe. The soles are no longer made of high quality materials, but are now made of cheap foam rubber designed to wear out in less than a year (and they do). Not only does this make them cheaper to manufacture, but it also means you'll have to replace them more often. Good for you, Rockport. The timing of the shoe going down hill and the purchase of Rockport by Adidas seems to somewhat coincide. In the absence of ability to improve their product or manufacturing processes, I guess the only way the Adidas MBAs can keep paying themselves mid-six-figures a year for doing nothing is by selling an increasingly inferior product and screwing their customers. This kind of BS is what passes for business innovation these days, and why corporate profits stay healthy despite a moribund economy as we keep getting less and less for our money, a "hidden inflation" nobody wants to talk about. The only people benefiting are the management class who orchestrate this charade. Sorry for the rant in the middle of a shoe review, but the reason these shoes now suck and some of the problems with our economy are one in the same. These shoes seem cheap, but it's a false economy we pay for on the second and third pair of shoes we need to buy to make these last as long as they used to. Rant aside, you'll do yourself a favor if you vote with your dollar to buy a shoe made by a company that has some respect for its customers. UPDATE: I'd hoped that maybe I could at least have the soles replaced, and "build" a decent shoe that way. Experiment failed. Everything on the shoe is made so cheaply that the whole thing is starting to wear out, even though the shoe is only a few months old! There is a tear in a seam in the upper, the laces are shot (ok, that could be fixed) and the treads are already almost entirely worn off. So, it's now official: I will never buy another pair of Rockports again.