Video may not have killed the radio star, but digital certainly killed the Polaroid. I was at a photo festival last summer where Mary Ellen Mark spoke about stockpiling the 20x24 large format film she's been using for her prom project. It will now last only as long as she has the film to do it.I don't think she would consider the Poladroid an adequate replacement, but it is a super fun little widget. Creator Paul Ladroid obviously put a great deal of thought and care into recreating not just the look of a Polaroid snap shot, but the whole experience.
Once you download his free application, you get this nifty little icon on your desktop. Then you simply drag and drop your digital files onto the camera. You know the conversion has been successful when you hear the familiar "whiiiiiiiiiiiiir CLICK".
A thumbnail image pops out, and takes several minutes to "develop". While you're waiting, you can actually grab and "shake" it. That's right, you can shake it, SH-SH, shake it like a ... well, you know ...
The file is ready when a little red check appears on the thumbnail. A larger, high res JPG is also created. It took me a few minutes to figure out exactly where the JPG had ended up; however, if you click on Poladroid and Preferences (on the tool bar), you can see which folder it's saved to. You can also only "take" ten pictures at a session - just like the number of shots in a film catridge.
Polaroid is probably not dead.
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