"It's been a long fall for Polaroid," says Will Oremus at Slate. The pioneer of instant photography slept through the digital-photography revolution, went bankrupt, tried to come back to life, and went bankrupt again in recent years. Polaroid has tried unsuccessfully to reinvent itself with "a succession of generally awkward new products, like a 'smart camera' that doubles as an Android phone." This week, however, the company unveiled "a new idea so simple and natural that it just might work." Polaroid is partnering up with a startup called Fotobar to open a chain of retail stores where customers will be able to upload images from their smartphones, fiddle with them on computers, and then print them out as art, on anything from archival paper to bamboo.
The idea has obvious appeal in an era when most of our best pictures live only on the screen. Of course there are other options for printing out hard copies, including Walgreens. But Fotobar is aiming higher, with dedicated retail outlets that sport an Apple Store-like layout and well-trained employees to help customers through the editing process...There's a good chance the project will ultimately go bust. But I hope that doesn't happen before I get the chance to try one out. Having lost its way in a high-tech world, Polaroid is going back to "high touch." If it succeeds, the company will have pulled off a feat that few foresaw: returning to relevance in the age of Instagram. [Slate]
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