A Walk Down Memory Lane in a Pair of Nike Shoes

Nike Shoes began there life as a dream that Bill Bowerman (a track coach) and Phil Knight (an accounting student and middle-distance runner) had of producing low-priced, high-tech athletic shoes. Forty years later, Nike not only produces sports apparel and running shoes but also produces equipment for every imaginable sport, as well as a range of clothing, school supplies and other products for athletes.

Although Nike has been very successful in producing many models of shoes for athletes, I personally have an interest in Nike running shoes, so let's have a look at two of Nike's great running shoe technologies.

One of the earlier of the Nike Running Shoe technologies was the Nike Air technology which was introduced in 1979. This was introduced in the Nike Tailwind running shoe . The air came from gas-filled membranes that are inserted into the sole of the shoes to provide cushioning. On a side note and for those basketball players, Nike's first court shoe using the Air technology was created in 1982, known as the Nike Air Force 1. Five years after that, in 1987, the Nike Air max shoe made its debut. The Air Max uses a much larger Air cushioning unit and is visible at the side of the midsole. This became the first of many generations of Air Max branded technologies.

Still coming up with new innovative designs, Nike created an ambitious new technology in 2000 which they named the Nike Shox. The Shox technology has since been introduced into many models of Nike's shoes. Shox are small columns that makeup the outsole of the shoe. Nike claims that Shox columns not only absorb impact from heel strike while running, but they also spring back and add more power to a runner's stride. Although initially thought to be a cheap marketing gimmick by serious runners, Nike Shox have begun to gain credibility in athlete's upper circles and is expected to be an intregal shoe design in years to come.

Nike are not only leaders in the runner's world, but also leaders in the sports and athletic industries. Who would've dreamed that after paying only $35 to have the popular Nike Swoosh created in 1971, that there revenues would exceed $13 billion in 2004. But then that's what it was in the beginning - a dream.