Out with the Old, In with the Old

It has been reported this week that Polaroid is ceasing the manufacture of Polaroid film. Perhaps the real news was that Polaroid is still in business! Their CEO says they're now re-tooling to focus on the new digital camera technology that he's recently started to notice on his bus-tour vacations. I remember when my grandma's Polaroid camera was the coolest piece of technology I'd ever seen. That was around the time that my dad's 2-inch thick calculator with the red LED display and a square-root function was nearly as cool. Last I knew, the Polaroid was still my mother-in-law's camera of choice, though I think she may have just recently got comfortable with a digital camera. She just slipped in under the wire.

On the other hand, I also read this week about the come-back of vinyl LPs. They've never gone out of fashion with certain audiophiles who have always been convinced they can hear the negative artifacts of digital sampling on CDs. But now there's actually a manufacturer or two that are re-launching the production of vinyl LP recordings. Besides marketing to audiophiles who still like that allegedly "warmer" LP sound, and to people who just into the throwback "kitsch" of owning LPs, the LP is now being promoted as a format that's more secure against digital piracy. They can't be copied without a fair amount of inconvenience and a some analog generation loss. I still have quite a few LPs in a closet somewhere from my high school days. But I haven't had a working player since college. I guess I better get with the times and find one. Just think what I've been missing. I haven't heard the "Imperials" in almost 20 years.