Polaroid Down.
From time to time, I like to make extremely radical predictions. I predicted BluRay would win out over HD-DVD, and that appears to be happening (though I also said BluRay would give PS3 the edge over XBox 360, which was completely off). I never made these predictions on my blog, because they came before. Perhaps I will be more bold in the future.
This, however, is less of a bold prediction: Polaroid will be dropping instant film, commonly referred to as “Polaroid”. With digital cameras becoming cheaper and more capable of high quality everyday, it was only a matter of time before the instant variety would fall, and it won’t be long before film is all together obsolete.
It’s not a matter of technology for technology’s sake, it’s a way to communicate that offers more value to the customer. Instead of $2 for a roll of film and $6 to develop, and wait until you take it in, and another hour while they develop, and God knows if pimple face actually knows what the hell he is doing, you now take a picture, instantly see if it looks good, upload to the web for everyone to see (or those you consider family or friends) or print it out on your own (though I’m not convinced that part is up to par yet).
And HDTV will allegedly be standard as of next year, though that’s been tied up for some time, and telecoms might make another push to delay. The point is, technology changes, and it serves the interest of the masses. Today, we can go on the internets and see what’s happening in the Middle East, directly from those experiencing it, without the “liberal” bias of the media censoring things. We may miss the fun of shaking that Polaroid until the image becomes recognizable as a human face, and, of course, more people have lost their jobs to robots, but when the world starts changing, you have to embrace it, and make yourself more relevant. Otherwise, you become Carrot Top.
