Well, maybe. It’s certain every major industry has a lobby, and can’t do business without one- that says something about our system right there.<br><br>But I don’t think we need to invoke conspiracy theories to explain this not taking hold- either technology.<br><br>I don’t think I’d have any interest in battery-heated clothing myself- insulation is a great deal more reliable, and one thing I don’t need to be worrying about out in real cold is how much charge I have left.. or the software crashing... aside from weight, bulk and cost considerations.<br><br>As for cell-charging footwear, exactly how big a market can you envision for this? I think we can eliminate businessmen wearing wing-tipped oxfords or Italian leather loafers, and I think we can eliminate women with a collection of 50-100 pairs of fashion shoes. Backpackers? Maybe, but there’s probably no group on Earth more particular, and with less consensus, about their footwear. Who else is planning to be away from an outlet, on foot, for long enough for this to be appealing, and how big a market could they possibly be? Street people?<br><br>Don’t underestimate the resistance of society to new technology- you can grow old and die waiting for perfectly good technical advances to be adopted. Look at the people around you- the most high-tech device most of them have on their person is probably their watch, and no matter how high-tech that is on the inside, they still insist on the same 16th-century interface on the outside, or they won’t wear it. This interface was designed to make it easier for clockmakers, not users, hundreds of years ago. Many are now carrying cell phones, but most can’t use more than a tenth of the features, any more than they can program their VCRs. They haven’t mastered anything really new in phone interfaces since the introduction of push-button dialing, and there was considerable resistance to that.<br><br>So, I don't think we really need to postulate a conspiracy to oppose the cell-recharging shoe concept. Besides, if the Segway takes hold, who's going to be walking much? :-)<br>