Polaroid Redux

I remember my dad telling me about his old camera: a polaroid.  He even showed it to me and I thought it was pretty cool.  The machine pretty much was a gadget to capture moments with the instantaneous gratification of seeing the moment that had just passed.  Be it a birthday party, a graduation, a nice scene whatever, Polaroid captured it and voila you got your picture in a minute.

I never actually did see the Polaroid in action, or the instant memory maker gadget, in action as back in Manila, nobody sold the cartridges.  Furthermore, Polaroids didnt take very "good" images if you compared them to standard film shots which, if shot like a pro, produced much better quality so by the time i was conscious, Filipinos were winding those disposable cameras.  While im on the topic, i did wanna mention that "Kodak" is synonymous to picture in the Philippines, even if most people use DSLRs nowadays.  Just another example of how brand equity can be so pervasive. 

So if Polaroids became extinct and gave way to the regular film cameras and then eventually film cameras died out as digital cameras became cheaper and cheaper, why has my good friend quit his job to open up a Polaroid shop?  I really can't explain but Polaroids are back!  Ok fine, they're called Instamax but heck its the same thing.

Resurrecting from the grave, Polaroids made a comeback maybe two years ago in Manila and have more or less started a cult following.  Im not sure if they are equally big in other markets but i guess Polaroids have filled in nicely for that segment of society that wants to be different.  It makes little sense to me as the cartridges are still relatively expensive (compared to digital flash cards) and although the quality of the prints have improved dramatically, you still dont have the luxury of digital photoshop or the otherwise never ending supply of mulligans when taking photos.  I guess Polaroid has come back to fill in a new need: the eccentric Manileno's desire to be different in how he or she takes photos.