http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1361555
(...)
"We found that more and more young people are fascinated by the magic of Polaroid, and more and more people are looking for this analog characteristic that you cannot get with digital images," Kaps says of his endeavour. "This medium is too young and powerful and has too much potential just to die."
Instant photography first came to life in 1948 through Polaroid's complicated-looking Model 95. Despite its $95 price tag - around $800 in today's dollars - it was all the rage. The technology was soon embraced by artists, fashionistas, law-enforcement agencies and impatient photographers everywhere. At the turn of the millennium, however, digital cameras began their ascent in the marketplace. Global sales of Polaroid instant cameras were dropping at an rate of 25% a year, so few were surprised when the company announced a year ago that it would cease film production and close its factories in the United States, Mexico and the Netherlands.
"Aside from the market choosing, we also found that it is not eco-friendly to manufacture the product," says Jon Pollock, vice-president of digital imaging at Polaroid. "There were a series of hurdles on the manufacturing side that weren't insurmountable but large enough that it didn't make sense for Polaroid to move forward. People have embraced the digital paradigm. They want to have the ability to capture a picture and then to have a choice to either print it or not and share it."
It took Kaps nearly a year to negotiate an agreement to make Polaroid film in the company's Dutch factory....
(((Got this news from no less a Dead Media maven than Richard Kadrey himself.)))
