You may recall back when we discussed disruptive versus sustaining technology, one of the things we talked about were digital cameras. Specifically, besides Kodak anyway, we talked about Polaroid and its inability to keep up in an ever crowded digital-photography marketplace.
And that was unusual, because Polaroid is a stalwart photography company that has been around for a long time, and made some iconic cameras. The most well known of those, of course, is the Polaroid One-Step line of cameras, in which you'd press the button and a picture would come out. Well, not a picture but a piece of film that you'd have to wave around in the air and the picture would slowly develop; it's sort of like the digital cameras we have now, inasmuch as you could see the picture shortly after you took it and decide if you liked it or needed to take another.
In fact, the design of that film became iconic in culture, as even digital prints are sometimes depicted as having the white border and larger chin of the Polaroid instamatic film. While the loss of the film didn't result in a song by Paul Simon like some other films, there was an outcry, its demise made the national news, and it eventually came back! Apparently people still use those cameras a lot. So it's only fitting that now, at long last, there is a museum dedicated to the Polaroid. And guess where it is? That's right, it's right here in Las Vegas.
I haven't yet been there, but as soon as I get the chance, I will go, take some pictures with my non-Polaroid Icon, and if I don't get thrown out because of it I'll post them here.
I used to think that the Polaroid cameras were the coolest thing. We used to have one when I was younger and I remember when my parents got a new camera they gave the Polaroid to my sister and myself. We loved taking photos and waving them around and then just taking another one. I think it is really fitting that there is a museum dedicated to Polaroid. They were the coolest thing to have at the time and they helped us get to where we are now in the digital age. I can see the same thing happing to digital cameras in the future because people will only be using their phones to take photos.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie Theobald
Stephanie, I too loved my Polaroid camera. I actually still have mine at the house, although I doubt it works. I think the reason these were so popular, is for a couple of reasons. It saved an instant trip to the store in having to develop your photos. The other is that it required human interaction (in waving your picture) to develop. This provided a small sense of ownership in the creation process. The design is also sleek, and was "hip" for its time.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Polaroid cameras as well. I know they took pretty good pics, and kinda fun to work with. However I remember them being big and bulky. I also agree they were nice because they gave you instant pictures, and saved you a trip to get them developed.
DeleteMya Taylor
I still have an old Polaroid as well, I cant bring myself to get rid of it. Ya, it may be out dated but my sisters and I still like to take photos with it every now and then. It does give that sense of ownership in the creation process like Travis stated. It also bring back childhood memories when you start shaking the film to develop it. I find it very fun to use.
ReplyDeleteI used to have one of these too. I still have many many old family photos that were taken on this camera. The good old days.
ReplyDeleteI am personally a fan of the Polaroid, it was my favorite "toy" when I was younger, granted my mom would always yell at me for wasting film. A sudden rush of nostalgia almost convinced me to buy a Polaroid camera at my work (Polaroid 300 Instant Camera), but I swiftly changed my mind after seeing the price, $69.99. I guess that makes me an analytic decision maker! However, I am looking forward to visiting the Polaroid Museum here in Vegas!
ReplyDeleteThe other day I was walking around the linq and saw that there was a space saying Polaroid Fotobar and wondered what they were going to do. I know now. It's cool that they chose Las Vegas to put their museum, it has a great place too. I'm sure I'll stop by on of these days to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI've visited their store last week, there museum isn't open quite yet. It is located at the LINQ. There store is quite interesting. They still do sell polaroid cameras but the prices of the film can be quite expensive. What was cool is that they have computers set up everywhere and you can print out your photos on polaroid style cardboard material with the iconic white borders as well as edit the photos before print. Should check check it out when you get a chance.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I had a Polaroid that my parents purchased for me from Costco and another one when I was much younger from Barbie. I absolutely loved that camera but it was not one for best quality but fun throwback look. I wish they were able to make they were still producing. But very happy that they decided to go with Las Vegas!!! So excited!!!
ReplyDeleteAshley Brown
DeleteI remember playing with these cameras when I was a little kid and taking pictures of the most random things simple because I thought it was the coolest thing ever that right after you took the picture you simple had the real thing in your hand and didn't have to take the film role to the store to get it developed. I think that the museum is a great idea and will probably check it out when I have the time to do so. It is very unfortunate that Polaroid was not able to keep up in the market, as I think that could have come up with some pretty fascinating concepts in the future, as this camera was that a few decades ago.
ReplyDelete-Shane Booth
I remember my parents having a Polaroid camera. It had these flash bulb attachments that were blinding every time it flashed. The camera was noisy too. I liked the fact that you could take your picture and have it instantly. Wow, what a huge breakthrough in the field of photography. I do miss film photography. I took a class in high school and we got to develop our own film. That was pretty fun, now I guess that's comparable to Photoshoping your digital photos. Technology is in fact ever changing. The museum sounds cool!
ReplyDelete