Authentic Hawaii
There is an article in the March 24, 2008 edition of Time magazine by John Cloud called Synthetic Authenticity . In this article the author talks about the ideas that what consumers are now purchasing is an experience, not a product. The explanation is that Walmart sells all products as a commodity. Starbucks sells an experience. You get the 98 cents cup of coffee or you can buy the $3.69 Italian coffee experience. I'm just finishing up my trip to Hawaii here and one of the things that impressed me is the difference of my experience. I saw both ends of the Hawaii spectrum. I visited both Waikiki to experience the packaged Hawaii, neat Hawaii and visited Volcano National Park (VNP). Just outside of Volcano National Park is a small town called Volcano or Volcano Village. If you Google the place you get Volcano, HI . If you look for the sign it says Volcano Village. It is the same place. I found that Volcano Village genuinely welcomes tourists. I was looking to not...