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Aninator
Flashtique


Registered: 01/03/06
Posts: 2,228
Loc: Philadlephia, PA
Last seen: 7 months, 2 days
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Say Goodbye to Polaroids
#8006581 - 02/10/08 09:16 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Polaroid closing instant film factories > > > By MARK JEWELL, AP Business Writer Fri Feb 8, 4:54 > PM ET > > BOSTON - Polaroid Corp. is dropping the technology > it pioneered long before > digital photography rendered instant film obsolete > to all but a few > nostalgia buffs. > > Polaroid is closing factories in Massachusetts, > Mexico and the Netherlands > and cutting 450 jobs as the brand synonymous with > instant images focuses on > ventures such as a portable printer for images from > cell phones and > Polaroid-branded digital cameras, televisions and > DVD players. > > This year's closures will leave Polaroid with 150 > employees at its Concord > headquarters and a site in the nearby Boston suburb > of Waltham, down from > peak global employment of nearly 21,000 in 1978. > > The company stopped making instant cameras over the > past two years. > > "We're trying to reinvent Polaroid so it lives on > for the next 30 to 40 > years," Tom Beaudoin, Polaroid's president, chief > operating officer and > chief financial officer, said in a phone interview > Friday, after the > company's plans were reported in The Boston Globe. > > Polaroid failed to embrace the digital technology > that has transformed > photography, instead sticking to its belief that > many photographers who > didn't want to wait to get pictures developed would > hold onto their old > Polaroid cameras. > > Global sales of traditional camera film have been > dropping about 25 percent > to 30 percent per year, "and I've got to believe > instant film has been > falling as fast if not faster," said Ed Lee, a > digital photography analyst > at the research firm InfoTrends Inc. > > "At some point in time, it had to reach the point > where it was going to be > uneconomical to keep producing instant film," Lee > said. > > Privately held Polaroid doesn't disclose financial > details about its instant > film business. > > Polaroid instant film will be available in stores > through next year, the > company said - after which, Lee said, Japan's > Fujifilm will be the only > major maker of instant film. > > Polaroid got its start making polarized sunglasses > in the 1930s, and > introduced its first instant camera in 1948. Film > packs contained the > chemicals for developing images inside the camera, > and photos emerged from > the camera in less than a minute. > > Polaroid's overall revenue from instant cameras, > film and other products > peaked in 1991 at nearly $3 billion. The company > went into bankruptcy in > 2001 and was bought four years later for $426 > million by Minnetonka, > Minn.-based consumer products company Petters Group > Worldwide. > > Polaroid's newly announced job cuts include 150 > positions to be eliminated > over the next couple months at Massachusetts > operations in Norwood and > Waltham, which make large-format films for technical > and industrial > photography. Later this year, Polaroid will close > plants employing 300 > workers in the Mexican state of Queretaro and in > Enschede, Netherlands. > > Meanwhile, Polaroid is seeking a partner to acquire > licensing rights for its > instant film, in hopes that another firm will > continue making the film to > supply Polaroid enthusiasts. > > As it seeks to gain a foothold in digital > photography this year, Polaroid > plans to sell an 8-ounce photo printer slightly > bigger than a deck of cards > that requires no ink and prints business card-sized > pictures. It uses > thermal printing technology from Zink Imaging Inc., > founded by private > investors who bought technologies from Polaroid as > it was coming out of > bankruptcy. > > Polaroid also has its brand name on foreign-made > TVs, DVD players, digital > photo frames, cameras and MP3 music players. Those > products generated nearly > $1 billion in revenue last year for Polaroid's >parent firm, Beaudoin said.
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AlteredAgain
Visual Alchemist



Registered: 04/27/06
Posts: 11,181
Loc: Solar Circuit
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: Aninator]
#8006592 - 02/10/08 09:21 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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An antique it will become. I've always loved those machines.
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: Aninator]
#8006616 - 02/10/08 09:28 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I saw that earlier today. It's the end of an era.
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boxcarguy07
Uno



Registered: 04/25/07
Posts: 3,942
Loc: SC
Last seen: 11 years, 6 months
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: Le_Canard]
#8006639 - 02/10/08 09:36 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quite sad... I remember taking Polaroids and being fascinated with the whole concept as a child
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Music doesn't stop at the ears when it begins at the heart.
"Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 5 hours, 36 minutes
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: Aninator]
#8006709 - 02/10/08 09:55 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Polaroids are cool. One New Years Eve a while back we were down on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. A girl was walking through the crowd with a polaroid camera. She snapped my picture, handed it to me, and walked away (before it was even developed). That pic still sits on my desk some 6 or 7 years later (don't remember the exact year it was taken). Here is a picture of my desk that I uploaded almost 2 1/2 years ago where you can see it...
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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niteowl
GrandPaw



Registered: 07/01/03
Posts: 16,291
Loc:
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: Aninator]
#8006728 - 02/10/08 09:59 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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It was just a matter of time for them. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they have.
-------------------- Live for the moment you are in nowDon't be bogged down by your pastDon't be afraid of what lies in your future
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AlteredAgain
Visual Alchemist



Registered: 04/27/06
Posts: 11,181
Loc: Solar Circuit
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: ToTheSummit]
#8006898 - 02/10/08 10:32 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
ToTheSummit said: A girl was walking through the crowd with a polaroid camera. She snapped my picture, handed it to me, and walked away (before it was even developed).
I think that's exactly what makes them so special. You just can't do that with a digital camera.
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DoltishVirtuoso
Waiting



Registered: 01/02/08
Posts: 151
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: AlteredAgain]
#8007046 - 02/10/08 11:11 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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A sad day for photo enthusiast such as myself. Hopefully instant film will still be available for the few Polaroids I own.
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AlteredAgain
Visual Alchemist



Registered: 04/27/06
Posts: 11,181
Loc: Solar Circuit
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From the looks of it, they're ending the production of film as well.
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2032917.0.polaroid_brings_down_the_shutters_on_iconic_film.php
That's terrible. I mean, you can still buy blank VHS tapes. What's the reason for stopping the supply if there's people out there who own older polaroid cameras. What a stupid idea.
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers



Registered: 03/06/03
Posts: 21,287
Loc: The Ocean of Notions
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: AlteredAgain]
#8007101 - 02/10/08 11:29 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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They said there isn't enough demand to make money from it.
You can't expect them to lose money...
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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Entropymancer


Registered: 07/16/05
Posts: 10,207
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: AlteredAgain]
#8007104 - 02/10/08 11:29 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Polaroids have gone the way of the stereoscope.
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niteowl
GrandPaw



Registered: 07/01/03
Posts: 16,291
Loc:
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And the 8-track
-------------------- Live for the moment you are in nowDon't be bogged down by your pastDon't be afraid of what lies in your future
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StonedShroom
OG shroomerite



Registered: 10/21/00
Posts: 10,876
Last seen: 6 months, 30 days
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: ToTheSummit]
#8007145 - 02/10/08 11:39 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
ToTheSummit said: Polaroids are cool. One New Years Eve a while back we were down on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. A girl was walking through the crowd with a polaroid camera. She snapped my picture, handed it to me, and walked away (before it was even developed). That pic still sits on my desk some 6 or 7 years later (don't remember the exact year it was taken). Here is a picture of my desk that I uploaded almost 2 1/2 years ago where you can see it...
ooohhh we use the same shroomery scheme! Light Blue or something...
-------------------- We are not human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience.
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Aninator
Flashtique


Registered: 01/03/06
Posts: 2,228
Loc: Philadlephia, PA
Last seen: 7 months, 2 days
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: StonedShroom]
#8008089 - 02/11/08 09:58 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yea i dunno i find this really sad, polaroids have such a great feel to them the availability the spead the magic in the image appearing. it makes me really sad. and i wonder how far it's going to go. because a lot of photographers use polaroid as like a test shot for studio set ups with large format cameras. i wonder if those are gonna be gone too? it really is a shame and as much as i like digital cameras i like holding pictures in my hands. images on paper is far more impressive and interesting to me rather than on a screen. I hate those digital pictures frames. it's depressing.
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers



Registered: 03/06/03
Posts: 21,287
Loc: The Ocean of Notions
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: Aninator]
#8008101 - 02/11/08 10:06 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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The only thing that really gets to me is the frailty of all of this digital data. I volunteer at the Public Museum here, so I get to wander around the back store-rooms where they keep all the history. There are so many things there, pieces of information that are conveyed on paper and by photographs. Pictures of expeditions and digs and historical data. Much of it lost for some time and then rediscovered in someone's Grandpa's attic.
This won't happen with this digital media. Pictures will be deleted to make room for more pictures, or the data will degrade on a memory card and be lost for ever.
Digital Data is Transient.
I don't like it either.
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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DieCommie


Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Thats funny, I think just the opposite...
Digital photos can be copied with ease. The data gets spread to many machines (for example email to friends and family), it gets copied without any degradation, it gets printed out multiple times. Storage space gets cheaper and cheaper so I see no reason why anybody would delete photo files for space. I have all my photos on a external hard drive in my school locker. Redundancy. Even if my apt. burns down, my photos survive (like wise if the school burns down).
Thousands of years from now, the digital photos from our generation will be much more prevalent than the film photos, thats for sure.
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impgl
CrimethINCspecial agent


Registered: 02/07/06
Posts: 2,462
Loc: california!
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: Say Goodbye to Polaroids [Re: DieCommie]
#8008392 - 02/11/08 11:30 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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about time
-------------------- omg really?
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