What a great question! First, I think Shomore wrote about this "Rakku" product in one of the forums (possibly the "general" forum). Second, I think this is a complicated question that has to do with the economy and architecture of your household.
There are numerous shoe-storing systems--Shoelover, which is linked through our blogroll, sells clear shoeboxes for storage, which some people love; and our own Jitterbugbaby likes to keep them in the original box.
When I was pressed for space in my old apartment, I had 3 (or was it 4?) of these babies:
Canvas 10 Pocket Shoe Organizer - canvas shoe organizers, hanging in the closet in lieu of clothes. This way they're kind of protected, and you can always see them (sort of). The catch is, of course, that you always, always have to wipe your shoes before you put them away. Well, that's something I do anyway. It doesn't really work for boots, of course; those were stored on the floor of the closet, underneath.
Now that we own our own house, I have a walk-in closet with a build-in shoe storage systems--yoo-hoo! The previous owners used it for his and hers shoes (and clothes), but now it's mine only
I still have to take pictures of it (I will, I promise, and post them)--but it basically came with loads of compartments for my shoes. Boy, did I fill those up quickly--and I still had to store all my boots on the floor!
I'm curious to read what others use for shoe storage. I'll be back to this thread w/ pics.