Polaroid cameras used to be synonymous to instant phototography, but because of the fact the company was unable to keep up with the times, it fell out of grace. Maybe it’s this Cube action camera that will help it to regain some of the lost popularity.
When thinking about action cameras, most people have GoPro’s Hero line in mind, and by no means any of Polaroid’s products. After failing to impress the world with its digital cameras (including the Instant Print Digital Camera it launched back in 2012), the American company thought it might have a chance at making people turn their heads with the Polaroid Cube action camera. While this one does have some advantages over the GoPro Hero4, it’s somewhat unlikely that Polaroid will ever create a product that will make the people behind GoPro to stay awake at night.
Robert Brunner, the founder and president of Ammunition, the design firm responsible for the Beats by Dre headphones, explained how the general public reacted to seeing the Cube: “Most people say it’s cute. We wanted to position the product to really be fun and accessible and easy and simple, not intimidating. Thats why when people say it’s cute, I’m happy.”
I had thought that companies making anything but My Dear Little Pony products wouldn’t have wanted to hear the word “cute” associated with their gadgets, but apparently for Polaroid that’s a good thing. It’s probably this reaction that made Polaroid think that they still have a chance to survive the tremendous diversity of today’s digital photography.
With that in mind, Polaroid also wants to target a new niche: people who want to capture action on film from a safe location. Polaroid CEO Scott Hardy explained that “From our perspective, we felt like we really needed to grow the overall pie. When we talked to Ammunition, we were very specific. We said to them, ‘We need something that’s unique and differentiated that addresses a much broader demographic.’”
Brunner added that “We really felt it was extremely important for us to do something entirely unique. It’s an interesting time to be a designer. We’re going back and redesigning all kinds of stuff we never thought we would. There’s this line you have to walk because people understand certain things.”
Gregoire Vandenbussche, senior designer at Ammunition, pointed out that the design of the Polaroid Cube is inspired from the pink erasers that so many of us used in school: “When you use it, it kind of wears down and it’s very friendly, and you like to hold it in your hand and fidget with it. We wanted that sort of quality to it.”
Polaroid Cube is also reasonably priced, and can be bought right now on the manufacturer’s website. The technical specs of this camera are available there, in case you should want to check them.
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