Very few people are printing photos these days. If you're at a party or out and about, we pass the phone around. There used to be a sense of joy from the physical image being passed around. Now, it's some kind of instant euphoric digital moment that is lost within seconds. The images are no longer keepsakes. We can quickly, if not instantly, forget the images that we scroll over or tap on.
It seems that Polaroid is trying to change that by attempting to give value once again to the physical picture. The Polaroid Snap is their latest attempt at doing so. The Snap is a decidedly modern instant camera, with one interesting twist. It's inkless. Heat from the printer reacts with dyed crystals embedded in the photo paper to create the image.
It's interesting that Polaroid released the Snap at a time when point and shoot cameras are going the way of Old Yellar. We carry around an excellent point and shoot camera every day on our phones. But Polaroid is making an interesting point with the Snap. Most point and shoot instant cameras don't fit your pocket. The Snap does. There's no image customization beyond a button to select color, black and white, or sepia.
The Snap is it's own thing. It's a small, dead-simple device that does one thing. It brings back that retro joy of instant prints and it fits right into your pocket. At $99 for the Snap, this is something for everyone, I think.
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