I was at my local Fleet Feet store getting my foot fitted for the proper running shoe. I hadn’t actually tried on a pair of shoes in years – simply relying on the sizing that I somehow conjured up through years of growth spurts, feeling for toe room, etc etc. The woman at the store whips out the Brannock device – this archaic machine that I remember playing with in my youth when my mother was shopping for shoes at the mall. I thought to myself “people still use these things?”

They do! Enough so that Design Observer paid homage to this subtle machinery that still propagates itself into stores year after year.

With all the technology I surround myself with each and every day, it’s somewhat comforting to know that something so simple is still alive and kicking.

(By the way – through this wonderful machine, I found out that I have two different sized feet. Without pressure, my right foot is a 10 and my left foot is a 9. When standing, the right foot grows to a size 10.5/11 (my shoe size) and the left grows to a 9.5/10. I also discovered (not with the machine) that I over-pronate and that I need stability controlled running shoes. Fun stuff…)