Hesh, I agree with you 100%. I wouldn't have a problem skating in Nike's that were not made for skating as weird as that sounds. My folks didn't have much bread for nicer shoes like Nike when I was a kid so I have always viewed them as what those other kids got.
Converse and addidas were what most of us skated in before Airwalk and Vision Street Wear
Big corporation milking skateboarding puts me off, I don't know how else to describe it.