Ludwig Wittgenstein The Shack Apologist

Serendipity! I am reading an article in either Atlantic Monthly theatlantic.com or Harper's www.harpers.org (I am always chewing one of them to bits) in the Book Reviews Section - which I swear every month I will skip, and I always read....

This review is of a book about The House of Wittgenstein, ala, Ludwig, the youngest son and one of my favorite Philosophers. I don't know which came first for me, Bertrand Russell or Wittgenstein, it's like the chicken and the egg. I was fascinated. This was not the Plato, DesCartes, Hume, Hegel who I had been writing papers about for 3 years! This was short, logical, beautiful.

Wittgenstein refused his share of his families' considerable fortune. He had but one published work in his life. Much of his writing was rescued from the "peat cottage" where he spent his final days.

There we have it. No longer shall I be calling the home choices of the brilliant but misunderstood, "shacks".

Serendipity again: this morning I read an article on theatlantic.com called The Hipster Depression. The takeaway for me was this, "Bohemia is not an alternate reality"; 'the scene depends on a host of socio-economic forces. My friend was nothing if not Bohemian. I like to think I am too.

That REALLY got me to thinking because I read an article earlier this week that was referenced on a Tweet. The takeaway from that article is that Branding is dead. It is no longer a top-down phenomenon but personal. Brand loyalty and ultimately purchase decisions, are based on personal recommendations (socio-economic forces?).

When I think of my own purchase decisions, this is often all too true. I'm a Cool T Shirt Addict. I never would have heard of Trunk, Ltd., or Ed Hardy if my sister hadn't told me I'd love them. I wouldn't have known about my beloved Juicy Couture terry pants if I hadn't seen an ad for shopbop.com online, RIGHT NEXT TO an article declaring sweat suit couture "dead". That was 5 years ago and 9 pairs of pants later. Juicys are NOT sweat pants!

It looks as if the "Online Community", the personal recommendation, IS becoming the new branding mechanism. For instance, I collect dolls (no laughing, OK, go ahead). I am always on Ebay looking for dolls, and things to put on my dolls. Not one of these dolls would I have known about had I not followed the bread crumbs on Ebay. I'd have allot more money too. I HAD TO HAVE a Pullip doll a few years ago, so cute! Until I got her and any pose I put her in, she fell over and her wig fell off because her head weighs a pound and her body weighs an ounce. I sold her on Ebay.

Another take away from the Branding is Dead article: a physical store, such as Macy's, is increasingly a show room. The actual purchase is then made online. I do and do not get this. Why pay for shipping if you're buying a set of china or a bed frame? On the other hand, if I see expensive shoes or jeans (or china) I'll skip the in-store purchase because I can probably get the same thing for less online.

Not always. There is the Rachel Pally Long Full Skirt presented to me in an email from shopbop.com. I fell in love. I spent what I spent on knock-offs until nothing was cutting the mustard - and I broke down and paid full price. It's worth EVERY PENNY. I wear it all the time. I'd wear it every day if that was Bohemian and not creepy. I AM loyal to the Rachel Pally and Juicy Couture Brands - but ONLY due to the online and email marketing done by shopbop.com. I simply cannot afford to shop on that site often (LOVE the sales), but it is my Go To Site for great clothes and ideas.

Then I think of one of my favorite place in the world, The Moravian Bookshop, in Bethlehem, PA moravianbookshop.com. I live a couple of hours from there so I don't get to go there that often. It's an amazing place, books, housewares, bakery! They have a web site with a shopping cart - but not everything is catalogued and available for purchase on the web site. Gosh darn it. That is a case where the store IS a showroom for the virtual realm. They sell a line of stemware that is relatively inexpensive yet very attractive - and not available in my town. When I break a piece, I'd love to be able to go online and replace it - at The Moravian Bookshop. I'm loyal to that store.

Branding kind of is dead. Who spends a significant amount of time watching television or listening to the radio (Applebee's outdoor advertising is still killer!)? Online communities and their word of mouth plus their ad space = the new brand awareness.

Oh, and a shack is not a shack. It's a peat cottage. I feel much better, but still ashamed.