Polaroid has announced that they will no longer manufacture instant film or instant cameras and will instead concentrate on TVs, digital cameras, and printers, says the Chicago Sun-Times:

”We’re trying to reinvent Polaroid so it lives on for the next 30 to 40 years,” Tom Beaudoin, Polaroid’s president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said in a phone interview Friday.

Polaroid failed to embrace the digital technology that has transformed photography, instead sticking to its belief that many photographers who didn’t want to wait to get pictures developed would hold onto their old Polaroid cameras.

Global sales of traditional camera film have been dropping about 25 percent to 30 percent per year, ”and I’ve got to believe instant film has been falling as fast if not faster,” said Ed Lee, a digital photography analyst.

”At some point in time, it had to reach the point where it was going to be uneconomical to keep producing instant film,” Lee said.

Polaroid instant film will be available in stores through next year, the company said — after which, Lee said, Japan’s Fujifilm will be the only major maker of instant film.

Jessie, the reader who sent in this article says:

Ahh!!! This is so upsetting and yet I absolutely cannot find an e-mail address for ANYONE on their website. I need to revolt. We all need to revolt!! Do you know of any e-mail addresses or anything so I can obsessively write letters?? I would really appreciate any help you could provide.

Google Finance says:

1265 Main St., Bldg. W3
Waltham, MA 02451
USA – Map
+1-781-386-2000 (Phone)
781-386-8588 (Fax)

Sorry, Jessie. This is pretty sad. Polaroid film is pretty cool stuff, and is beloved by art nerds.

Polaroid won’t make Polaroids any longer [Chicago Sun-Times]
(Photo:Tubes.)

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