In this recent Wall Street Journal article, "Is Mass Customization the Future of Footwear?" (written October 24, 2017), Isabel Flower writes that shoes can know be made by individual foot scans so they can make the shoes to the exact measurements. One of the major companies that is pioneering in this new technology is ADIDAS. They have designed technology where the person steps on a device and it scans his or her foot. Next, they have the subject run around their track so they find out how their foot moves for support. ADIDAS then 3-D prints the "mid-sole", the specialized section in the shoe which is where your normal insole that you can remove. ADIDAS is releasing the new shoes to only "family and friends" as of April of 2017, but "on Dec. 15, Adidas will release 5,000 more to the public, priced at $300. An additional 100,000 are projected for 2018. All these releases feature a standard 3-D-printed midsole" (Flower).
The speaker of this article is Isabel Flower and her personal experience with trying ADIDAS's new shoes. Many scientists and an ADIDAS executive were also quoted in this argument. The occasion of this article was to inform readers of how ADIDAS is taking over the United States market which NIKE has always dominated (ADIDAS is still far from achieving the number one spot, but is closing ranks). The purpose of this article is to explain the new shoe technology that ADIDAS is making and creating a monopoly in that specialized market as well for 3-D printing. The subject of this article is the up-coming technology for specialized shoes that ADIDAS is making. The tone of this article was matter of fact and informative keeping a formal style of writing.
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