shoes are different from accessories. they just are. the thing about nike is that most of the time they do put research and thought into their products. i still use the insoles from a pair of URL's that i had 4 years ago.
i wouldn't have had such a problem with the element shoes if they had taken a different name. it sucks when companies become "one stop shops". when dc riders started dropping clothing sponsors to ride dc clothing i though that was incredibly lame, too.
There's no doubt that Nike makes great shoes. I just can't buy them.
I don't know about the multi brand thing, it's just weird to me. It's basically the same company with a different logo and look... i'm in the marketing end of things and i know how it all works, it's pretty simple how Nike got into skatebaording actually... just did things grass roots and everyone was like "oh hey, look, Nike cares about us" , and yes they have done some great contests and they support pros but when all is said and done, when the money dries up in skateboarding will they still be making shoes like Vans or Sole Tech? I would have to say that they'd probably pull the plug because it's not financially good for Nike as a whole.
They are deffinitely putting money into skaters pockets which i think is fucking awesome, but i don't see any heart in what they are doing.