I argued this on the "other
I argued this on the "other forum" as well, but you can't blame Vibram for marketing to what they perceive as their largest market. And that's not people who currently use VFFs, because they are probably still using the same VFFs they bought in 2006. Their largest market are those who are new to minimalist running, because they don't have the shoe yet. And those people, if they were anything like me, are going to want more stuff on the shoes because they perceive that they need those things.
When I first looked at VFFs, I almost waited to buy until the Bikilas came out because they were supposed to be specifically for running. Of course they came out over a year later, so I'm glad I didn't wait. But I had no clue that you could successfully run barefoot or in a shoe like the KSO with no padding and no traction on the bottom.
I think once people have the shoes for a while, they take the typical progression of a VFF to barefooter. They will buy shoes with less and less "stuff" until they just wind up in something they scraped together from the hardware store.
If I was the CEO of Vibram, I would move in the same direction. It's not like barefooters are a really profitable market. We buy $6 pool shoes if we buy anything at all. I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on some $30 ZEMs!