Snapchat vs Poloroid
when poloroid started making instant cameras , Snapchat and Instagram didn ’ t exist . No one dressed up their photos with filters , or scrawled on them in fluorescent pink text . They simply pointed , shot , and threw bunny ears .
Polaroid ’ s latest camera , the Pop , reinterprets the company ’ s classic instant camera for the social media era . It debuted this week at CES and features a fourinch touchscreen , image stabilization , and a 20-megapixel sensor — specs to rival the smartphone camera you carry around all day . Of course you can add filters and stickers , with no shortage to choose from : party hats , dog faces , and decorative frames are a few of them . And just like in the days of yore , you can print a three-by-four inch photo and stick it on the fridge .
The Pop is digital and analog , all at once .
Polaroid hopes this combination attracts young consumers . “ I ’ m old enough that we grew up with the original Polaroid ,” says Robert Brunner , whose firm , Ammunition , did the Pop ’ s design work . “ The simplicity , fun , immediacy of it — we want to bring that back to a new generation , in formats that they would find interesting and exciting .” Few things are more immediate ( or addictive ) than Snapchat or Instagram . But they aren ’ t keepsakes .
Prints are . Pop uses inkless printing technology developed by a company called Zink . So does Snap , another digital-analog Polaroid model that came out in 2015 . ( Ammunition designed Snap , too .) The technology and image quality have only improved since then . As resolution increases , so too can print sizes . The Snap spits out two-by-three inch photographs ( and costs $ 100 ), whereas the Pop emits photos that are the same size as a classic Polaroid . No word yet on price , but it ’ ll cost more than a Snap .
In a way , Polaroid was always its own filter . The constraints of the technology — squeezing instant film into a portable camera — resulted in fairly low resolution . Polaroids are just a bit blurry , and therefore immediately nostalgic . You still have that , but now you can add a cartoon party hat , too .
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