Polaroid i-Zone Pocket Film Camera
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- Battery Type: 2 x AA Alkaline Batteries
- Zoom Lens: Without Zoom Lens
- Camera Type: Point and Shoot
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Polaroid Spears Fortune in the I-Zone
Pros
pictures make stickers that kids and teenagers love, easy to use, durable
Cons
kids want to take many, many pictures and the film is expensive
Recommended it?
Yes
You do know that Polaroid I-zone cameras are cool, right? Now wait, you say, Polaroid pictures are those icky, washed out, poorly lighted things my Dad used to snap on Christmas morning. Polaroid pictures are what they use in Driver's License photos, for gosh sakes. Polaroid pictures, why they are part of the dark ages!
Oh, how wrong and truly, truly out-of-touch you are. Want me to prove how cool these cameras are? The Polaroid I-zone camera is the Official Camera of the Britney Spears 2000 tour. There.
Sidenote:If you are asking right now who Britney Spears is, you are so far out-of-touch I can't reach you. Time to skip down to the product information section.
Now, I confess, at near 40 years old, I left "cool" so long ago, I can't remember what it looked like on me. I didn't buy the Polaroid I-zone camera to be cool, I bought the Polaroid I-zone camera because it looked like it would be fun for my boys, 6 and 8. I had no idea I was helping them toward coolness by this purchase. I also had no idea I was saving a CEO's job.
Fast Photo Flashback
The best part of Polaroid pictures has always been the instant gratification. Back in the days when you sent your film away to be developed, or dropped it off and hoped for it to be ready two weeks later, Polaroid pictures developed in 60 seconds or so. I can remember so many holidays, clamoring to be the one that got to peel off the icky, chemical-laden layer covering the picture, so I could be the very first person to lay eyes on an extremely mediocre image of my family lined up against the wall. (We weren't very creative with picture staging.) Instant gratification was just exciting.
People certainly didn't choose to use a Polaroid for picture quality, even in the olden days. At the same time Ansel Adams was photographing works of art with the then available technology, my Dad was snapping Polaroids. Anyone who has seen the image quality out of a Polaroid knows that the pictures are pretty bad. Think Driver's License Photo. Think 3 pictures for $1.00 booths in the mall. With the advent of super-fast film processing, and now digital cameras, the instant film Polaroid technology appeared destined for the dustbin, at least for personal use.
Trouble for Polaroid Develops
Frankly, Polaroid was a company in trouble. In the late 90's, when so many company stocks were shooting sky high, Polaroid's share value was down 49% over three years. CEO Gary DiCamillo's job was on the line, especially after he was named one of 5 CEO's "In Denial" by Fortune Magazine. Told to "wake up - fast!", Fortune was especially critical of his harebrained strategy to base the recovery of the company on selling inexpensive cameras to young people.
Polaroid Sticks With It
It's clear that the writers for Fortune Magazine hadn't spent enough time hanging out in malls with the kids. (That is kind of hard to picture, isn't it? Go on, try. Fortune Magazine writer with an Orange Julius and a cell phone ? See I, told you it was hard to picture.) Here's what the writers missed: kids in malls, hanging out in instant photo booths, taking all kinds of goofy pictures because one little feature had been added. Sticky film. Instant photo booths changed their regular film prints to prints with sticky backs, and sales shot way up. Kids were going to malls specifically to make their own stickers and to decorate their lives with their own visage.
A mental leap, a creative jump, and presto - Polaroid introduced a personal camera that can use sticky film. Take the mall idea and go crazy with it. CEO Gary DiCamillo got the picture, even though Fortune missed it.
Polaroid I-Zone Pocket Camera
Sleek and sturdy, the Polaroid I-Zone camera is designed for both children and teenagers. It comes in hot colors with great names - Radical Red, Bright Breezy Blue and Cool Lime Green. Easy as pie to operate, my 6 year-old takes pictures with no trouble.
* The built-in flash is controlled by the settings on top of the camera, which are shown in picture form. Sun = Sunny Day, Cloud/Sun = Cloudy Day, Person in House = Indoors.
* Picture size is very small - just 1 1/4" W x 1 1/2" H. This limits the number of people you want to try to put in the picture.
* The "snap" button is large, yellow and sturdy. Little kid fingers have no trouble finding it and pushing it. The "flash ready" light is easy for them to find to remember to look for.
* After the picture is snapped, you need to pull the picture out of the side of the camera. Younger children may need help with this. The picture develops in just a couple of minutes "before your eyes". My children put their just taken picture on the table and stare obsessively until the image reveals itself. It never fails to delight them.
* The sticky film has edges that must be trimmed off before the picture can be pulled off of the backing to become a sticker. Kids' scissors work just fine for this, so my children can do this part themselves.
* The picture quality is better than I expected, especially with my kids at the helm. As long as they stand at least a couple of feet from the subject, we've had good results. Getting them to remember to stand a couple of feet from the subject has been a bit of a chore.
* The film is easy to load, but I haven't let my kids load it themselves. At 6 and 8, they are probably just a bit too young to handle that. Although it just "drops in" the back, you do have to pull the excess ribbon off, and I prefer to handle that myself. The camera can use either sticky or non-sticky film. 6 exposures of the non-sticky film were included with the camera. The non-sticky film was utterly boring to the children until I put double-faced tape on the back.
* The camera takes 2 "AA" batteries, which are included in your initial purchase.
* Beware, the film is not cheap. 12 exposures are 5.99 to 6.99 depending on where you buy it. If you are using this with young children, please understand that there is no stopping them once they start snapping on a roll. Plan that one outing = a whole roll of film.
Why the camera really is cool
And the answer isn't Britney Spears.
Coolest feature for Mom - the camera automatically turns itself off. Getting young kids (or Mom) to remember to turn anything off is usually impossible. This is a serious battery saver.
Coolest feature for kids and teenagers - stickers, stickers, stickers. Stick them on books, papers, the fridge. Stick them on your forehead, your bike and your dog. I've never had a problem removing a sticker from anywhere it was placed, though the dog didn't much like it. Create a kid's photo album for a vacation with just a few sheets of paper and the stickers. Use them as favors at a birthday party, or place cards at a holiday dinner.
Photo finish
Fortune Magazine hasn't apologized to him yet, but CEO Gary DiCamillo is looking pretty smart right now. The Polaroid I-Zone is the biggest selling camera in the United States, Polaroid paid a dividend share on its stock after having the most profitable quarter in a long while, and DiCamillo has a host of licensed I-Zones ready to launch - think Barbie + I-Zone.
Oh yeah, and DiCamillo gets free tickets to every Britney Spears' date on the 2000 tour. The Fortune writers have to pay.
To check out the official Britney Spears' I-Zone website, copy and paste http://izone.polaroid.com into your browser. While the full site hasn't launched yet, you can sign up now to get an invitation to the grand opening.
Oh, how wrong and truly, truly out-of-touch you are. Want me to prove how cool these cameras are? The Polaroid I-zone camera is the Official Camera of the Britney Spears 2000 tour. There.
Sidenote:If you are asking right now who Britney Spears is, you are so far out-of-touch I can't reach you. Time to skip down to the product information section.
Now, I confess, at near 40 years old, I left "cool" so long ago, I can't remember what it looked like on me. I didn't buy the Polaroid I-zone camera to be cool, I bought the Polaroid I-zone camera because it looked like it would be fun for my boys, 6 and 8. I had no idea I was helping them toward coolness by this purchase. I also had no idea I was saving a CEO's job.
Fast Photo Flashback
The best part of Polaroid pictures has always been the instant gratification. Back in the days when you sent your film away to be developed, or dropped it off and hoped for it to be ready two weeks later, Polaroid pictures developed in 60 seconds or so. I can remember so many holidays, clamoring to be the one that got to peel off the icky, chemical-laden layer covering the picture, so I could be the very first person to lay eyes on an extremely mediocre image of my family lined up against the wall. (We weren't very creative with picture staging.) Instant gratification was just exciting.
People certainly didn't choose to use a Polaroid for picture quality, even in the olden days. At the same time Ansel Adams was photographing works of art with the then available technology, my Dad was snapping Polaroids. Anyone who has seen the image quality out of a Polaroid knows that the pictures are pretty bad. Think Driver's License Photo. Think 3 pictures for $1.00 booths in the mall. With the advent of super-fast film processing, and now digital cameras, the instant film Polaroid technology appeared destined for the dustbin, at least for personal use.
Trouble for Polaroid Develops
Frankly, Polaroid was a company in trouble. In the late 90's, when so many company stocks were shooting sky high, Polaroid's share value was down 49% over three years. CEO Gary DiCamillo's job was on the line, especially after he was named one of 5 CEO's "In Denial" by Fortune Magazine. Told to "wake up - fast!", Fortune was especially critical of his harebrained strategy to base the recovery of the company on selling inexpensive cameras to young people.
Polaroid Sticks With It
It's clear that the writers for Fortune Magazine hadn't spent enough time hanging out in malls with the kids. (That is kind of hard to picture, isn't it? Go on, try. Fortune Magazine writer with an Orange Julius and a cell phone ? See I, told you it was hard to picture.) Here's what the writers missed: kids in malls, hanging out in instant photo booths, taking all kinds of goofy pictures because one little feature had been added. Sticky film. Instant photo booths changed their regular film prints to prints with sticky backs, and sales shot way up. Kids were going to malls specifically to make their own stickers and to decorate their lives with their own visage.
A mental leap, a creative jump, and presto - Polaroid introduced a personal camera that can use sticky film. Take the mall idea and go crazy with it. CEO Gary DiCamillo got the picture, even though Fortune missed it.
Polaroid I-Zone Pocket Camera
Sleek and sturdy, the Polaroid I-Zone camera is designed for both children and teenagers. It comes in hot colors with great names - Radical Red, Bright Breezy Blue and Cool Lime Green. Easy as pie to operate, my 6 year-old takes pictures with no trouble.
* The built-in flash is controlled by the settings on top of the camera, which are shown in picture form. Sun = Sunny Day, Cloud/Sun = Cloudy Day, Person in House = Indoors.
* Picture size is very small - just 1 1/4" W x 1 1/2" H. This limits the number of people you want to try to put in the picture.
* The "snap" button is large, yellow and sturdy. Little kid fingers have no trouble finding it and pushing it. The "flash ready" light is easy for them to find to remember to look for.
* After the picture is snapped, you need to pull the picture out of the side of the camera. Younger children may need help with this. The picture develops in just a couple of minutes "before your eyes". My children put their just taken picture on the table and stare obsessively until the image reveals itself. It never fails to delight them.
* The sticky film has edges that must be trimmed off before the picture can be pulled off of the backing to become a sticker. Kids' scissors work just fine for this, so my children can do this part themselves.
* The picture quality is better than I expected, especially with my kids at the helm. As long as they stand at least a couple of feet from the subject, we've had good results. Getting them to remember to stand a couple of feet from the subject has been a bit of a chore.
* The film is easy to load, but I haven't let my kids load it themselves. At 6 and 8, they are probably just a bit too young to handle that. Although it just "drops in" the back, you do have to pull the excess ribbon off, and I prefer to handle that myself. The camera can use either sticky or non-sticky film. 6 exposures of the non-sticky film were included with the camera. The non-sticky film was utterly boring to the children until I put double-faced tape on the back.
* The camera takes 2 "AA" batteries, which are included in your initial purchase.
* Beware, the film is not cheap. 12 exposures are 5.99 to 6.99 depending on where you buy it. If you are using this with young children, please understand that there is no stopping them once they start snapping on a roll. Plan that one outing = a whole roll of film.
Why the camera really is cool
And the answer isn't Britney Spears.
Coolest feature for Mom - the camera automatically turns itself off. Getting young kids (or Mom) to remember to turn anything off is usually impossible. This is a serious battery saver.
Coolest feature for kids and teenagers - stickers, stickers, stickers. Stick them on books, papers, the fridge. Stick them on your forehead, your bike and your dog. I've never had a problem removing a sticker from anywhere it was placed, though the dog didn't much like it. Create a kid's photo album for a vacation with just a few sheets of paper and the stickers. Use them as favors at a birthday party, or place cards at a holiday dinner.
Photo finish
Fortune Magazine hasn't apologized to him yet, but CEO Gary DiCamillo is looking pretty smart right now. The Polaroid I-Zone is the biggest selling camera in the United States, Polaroid paid a dividend share on its stock after having the most profitable quarter in a long while, and DiCamillo has a host of licensed I-Zones ready to launch - think Barbie + I-Zone.
Oh yeah, and DiCamillo gets free tickets to every Britney Spears' date on the 2000 tour. The Fortune writers have to pay.
To check out the official Britney Spears' I-Zone website, copy and paste http://izone.polaroid.com into your browser. While the full site hasn't launched yet, you can sign up now to get an invitation to the grand opening.
