Yes, We Want a Pixel Watch

Michael Calore: Nice.

Lauren Goode: Mike, what’s your recommendation this week?

Michael Calore: Slip-ons.

Lauren Goode: Slip-ons.

Michael Calore: I’m done with laces.

Lauren Goode: Just in general, in life, what are you wearing now? Well, you have laces on right now.

Michael Calore: These are elastic laces that turn any laced shoe into slip-on shoes.

Lauren Goode: What?

Michael Calore: Yeah. So I ride a bicycle. I don’t know if you knew this about me, but I ride a bicycle, and laces are not great for bikes because they get caught in the chain and they get chain grease on them. And if you have a fixed-gear bike or a single-speed bike or a coaster-brake bike, a lace getting caught in the chain can bring you to a very sudden stop, which is unsafe. So I usually, when I’m riding, don’t wear shoes with laces. And also now that travel is an option once again, I’ve been traveling more, and slip-on shoes work great for travel because you take your shoes on and off a lot when you go through airports and get on planes and things like that.

And also just like, I don’t like bending over to tie my shoes anymore because I’m old and it hurts. And slip-ons, you can put on while you’re standing up. There are just a bazillion reasons why they are superior to shoes with laces. So I’m going hard into slip-ons. I’m getting rid of all of my lace shoes except for my running shoes, because I’ve not found good running shoes that slip on. So if you have recommendations for running shoes without laces, send them to me. However, the shoes that I do have with laces, I’m replacing with those elastic laces, so it converts them into slip-ons.

Lauren Goode: Just seems like you wouldn’t want to go running in shoes without laces.

Michael Calore: They have to be really snug. Yeah.

Lauren Goode: Yeah. They have to be really snug. They need ankle support.

Michael Calore: Yeah.

Lauren Goode: It’s also just part of the process, right?

Michael Calore: Yeah.

Lauren Goode: Like, lace it up.

Michael Calore: Which is fine.

Lauren Goode: Going out for a run.

Michael Calore: But in all other scenarios of my life, no more laces.

Lauren Goode: What about Velcro?

Michael Calore: Velcro? What are you from? 1986?

Lauren Goode: Yeah. What’s wrong with 1986?

Michael Calore: Do you also have the kangaroos with a little zipper pouch on the side of the shoe?

Lauren Goode: I don’t remember those.

Michael Calore: OK.

Lauren Goode: I think you’re just that much older than me, Mike.

Michael Calore: Julian, you’re Team Slip-On, right?

Julian Chokkattu: Yes. Mostly because I’m lazy. I’m 6’4″. I have to bend down really far to tie my laces. I’m lazy. I just want to slip something on. And I’ve got to walk the dog two times a day. I don’t want to tie laces and things like that. So I am very much pro slip-ons.

Michael Calore: Yeah. Yeah. I went Vans, Sanuk, OluKai. There’s a bunch of great ones out there to pick from. So …

Lauren Goode: Oh, OK. So you’re not 1986. You’re 1994.

Michael Calore: No, no. This is thoroughly 2022.

Lauren Goode: OK.

Michael Calore: Yeah. I’m fully up to date on my fashion choices. Thank you Lauren.

Lauren Goode: I wear slip-ons when I take the garbage out.

Michael Calore: Well, there you go. You’re halfway there. All right. Well that is our show. Julian, thank you, as always, for joining us in talking Google.

Julian Chokkattu: Thank you. Yeah. Thanks. This was fun.

Lauren Goode: Thanks Julian. It was super fun.

Michael Calore: And thank you all for listening. If you have feedback, you could find all of us on Twitter. Just check the show notes. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth. We will be back next week. So until then, goodbye.

[Gadget Lab outro theme music plays]

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