All that said, it is interesting to look back on failed shoes, often launched with a fair amount of marketing and fanfare or “improved” once a company noticed the shoe was a success.
There was a shoe that was very popular. The company noticed. They improved/fixed it by making it much more narrow (which would make sense for a running shoe, but not a trail hiking shoe). It went from dominant on a trail to unused.
Another shoe was launched with a great marketing campaign and was completely flat — no arch at all. It is gone.
Another was launched with co-branding and much effort. It was a dramatic failure since when you added the weight of a back pack to wearing it, the shoe had a two part rockplate that one could feel hinging underfoot.
Finally, a company bought another shoe line and dropped the quality of manufacture so the shoes fell apart early when worn on a trail.
So many good shoes ruined by non hikers “making them better”.
Which is something you need to be aware of. So many companies have new versions on a constant basis, each an improvement on the last. This is why you need to try on the shoes and walk in them with weight, in the store and why last year’s “best shoe” may not be the best for you, even if everything else looks good.
It may well not be the same shoe.