Edwin Land unveiled the world's first instant camera to the Optical Society of America on 21st February, 1947.
Snapping a quick black-and-white selfie, Land astonished onlookers as the image emerged within 60 seconds. Despite its initial high price and complex development process, Polaroid cameras became a sensation, selling out on their first day of release in 1948.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Land's inspiration came during a family vacation; consider why Steve Jobs and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have looked to Land for inspiration ever since; and recall Polaroid’s disastrous pivot into ‘instant movies’, Polavision, in 1977…
Further Reading:
• ‘Inside the company that gave the world instant photography’ (FT, 2017): https://www.ft.com/content/d76d5f44-5088-11e7-bfb8-997009366969
• ‘Instant - The Story of Polaroid, By Christopher Bonanos’ (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Instant/VgyuGmMZ7iIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Instant:+A+Cultural+History+of+Polaroid+by+Christopher+Bonanos&printsec=frontcover
• ‘Apple & Polaroid's Intertwined Legacy’ (In An Instant, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOzdMkMMpR0
Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!
Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.
Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Very First Eurovision
Demonstration? Defenestration!
Jerry Lee Lewis's Child Bride
Burying Bob Marley
How To Survive A Nuclear Bomb
The Man Who Invented The Wild West
Marie Antoinette's Wedding
The Unkillable King George
The First Two Minute Silence
Cardinal Richelieu and the Table Knife
The Lady Who Left Her Baby Outside
Captain Blood and the Crown Jewels
Cocaine + Caffeine = Coca-Cola
The Earliest Ambulance
Sending Out Spam
Creating The King James Bible
America's Celebrity Child Soldier
Meet Mr Potato Head
Roget's Lexical Legacy
The First Mountaineer
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Lore