Would a polaroid be a good idea for a "birthday" present for my nephew?

[tkcartoonist]

My opinion on the revival of Polaroid cameras is that it's such a hipster thing: I remember as a kid that Polaroids were everywhere, but that's because they were cheap, instant, and saved a trip to the one-hour photo place. They were never good quality photos: I can open up an old photo album with 35mm photos and Polaroid photos, and the 35mm photos that were taken in the 70s when my older brothers were kids look much better than the Polaroid photos of me that were taken in the 90s.

I'll go with the suggestion of diapers or baby clothes.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Maybe that's how it's in America, but in Slavic countries we all still print digital photos, make albums and put photos in frames on the wall or shelves. That's just what everyone does here.

I am American and I prefer paper photos too. Digital media has no emotional pull on me. I love printing out photos and arranging photo albums, and hanging photos of loved ones.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

My nephew is turning one. I was thinking of getting a polaroid for them to take pictures of him as he begins to grow. I've always thought that these were more intimate and appealing than digital photos. No one really goes to get digital photos processed and printed anyway. Any thoughts?

How about something that will grow with your nephew, like an Abacus, some wooden building blocks, little musical instruments like a drum or ukelele?

Maybe a grow with me tricycle that starts out as a stroller with pedals, but grows with the child til they're about six, next as a tricycle, and eventually becomes a two wheeler bike without training wheels?

Oh or a radio flyer wagon. Toddlers love riding in those and also pulling them around.

Summer's coming, maybe a playpen or a big beachball, a cute sun hat, a swim diaper, or a little digging set for a sandbox or the beach?

One really good gift. You might think I'm crazy for this. A baby harness. At one year, a baby hates being cooped up in a stroller or car seat. Once they're walking, they're running. Often they don't want to hold hands at that age either. Especially if autistic, babies often will elope full speed across a store or a park, and that puts them in danger.

A baby harness gives a baby the chance to explore about six to eight feet in any direction from mama while she's shopping or walking down the street. The baby can stop and look at flowers or pick up a rock or ask "What's that?".

 

[velociraptor]

However I have no idea about such costs in your country.

Walmart regularly has sales on small prints, done on good printers. $0.05 to $0.10 per print in CAD when sales are on. I wait for them. I make small flip books of family photos to keep around. Not possible to do your own printing for that cheap.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Walmart regularly has sales on small prints, done on good printers. $0.05 to $0.10 per print in CAD when sales are on. I wait for them. I make small flip books of family photos to keep around. Not possible to do your own printing for that cheap.

I own the Kodak Scanza, and it's really neat. It scans old film, slides, and even old paper photographs and transfers them into digital files that can be printed out anywhere.

What's cool about the Scanza is that when it scans negatives, it turns it into a positive image and saves it on an sd card as a photograph with the right colors.

 

[Jonn]

Exactly. No one goes to have digital pictures processed because it is done in the camera, and the images can be shared through wireless, online technology.

Digital photographs are more versatile.

 

[Mary Terry]

Ironically when I visualize this, it reflects how someone of our age group who would instantly draw photographs from our wallets to show our grandchildren.

Yet would this be the same for your children and their generation ? I'm guessing they'd be more prone to simply whipping out their cellphone to display a multitude of digitized images in an instant. Keeping in mind the median age of our particular society is around 39 years.

Though one thing I completely agree upon. That seeking a retail outlet that allows one to print their digital pictures is the only cost-effective method available, unless one has money to burn when printing them on an inkjet printer. Something I learned from my own brother, who once worked in Walmart's photographic department.

Not to mention that IMO getting an inkjet printer to work optimally is often beyond the ability of the average computer user, or simply just too exasperating for those without ample amounts of patience. Reminds me of how my cousin simply gave her color printer to me, having given up on trying to learn all the things required to deliver quality photographs.

Polaroid cameras still have some value in terms of capturing spontaneous moments. That much is true. However the value of that must inevitably be compared to the value of the cost and availability of film, and whether or not you are talking about a real Polaroid camera, or a cheap and inferior knock-off version.

In essence it all boils down the competition between the cellphone industry and personal computing printers. Both with their unique ways of perpetually robbing consumers of their hard-earned money as opposed to (heaven forbid) merely supplying perceived demand. With no apparent challengers in the market to offer considerably more product for less money. Reminding us all that it's not about who "builds a better mousetrap", but rather those who market the mousetrap more effectively.

Our kids do print out photos of their children, frame and display them around their homes. It seems the younger generation understands better than the boomers how profoundly boring it is to be expected to ooh and aah over pictures of someone else's kids or grandkids.

I gave up on having a color printer in my home office many years ago. The ink was too expensive and the cartridges run out very quickly, so I have a black and white inkjet printer now. Walgreens, CVS, etc. color printouts are inexpensive and of decent quality so that's what I do.

 

[Judge]

Our kids do print out photos of their children, frame and display them around their homes. It seems the younger generation understands better than the boomers how profoundly boring it is to be expected to ooh and aah over pictures of someone else's kids or grandkids.

I gave up on having a color printer in my home office many years ago. The ink was too expensive and the cartridges run out very quickly, so I have a black and white inkjet printer now. Walgreens, CVS, etc. color printouts are inexpensive and of decent quality so that's what I do.

Having statistically investigated this issue, it turns out that I was dead wrong on all counts. My conclusions were all based locally between actual people I know, and observing the few third-party services available locally for those who choose not to print their digital images themselves. And I am picky above all reason over imagery in general when it comes to this sort of thing. With the usual culprit and reasoning being one thing: my OCD. Makes me quite the control freak. Guilty as charged.

Yet according to marketing trends, consumers still tend to print their images as opposed to digitally sharing them. Another myopic mistake on my part, as I overwhelmingly share images digitally online. Almost no one ever sees my printed images.

And yes, I was always aware of Walmart in particular who will print images for a far more reasonable price. My brother's remaining years as a Walmart employee was spent in their photographic department and apprised me long ago of its existence. Yet I personally find that option too frustrating compared to doing it all myself. OCD strikes again.

"Cheers and jeers". The quality one can potentially achieve with their own printer can be amazing. But what is charged for both printer ink and photo paper seems closer to a serious drug addiction. Constituting IMO one of the poorest values possible in the economic mainstream of consumer products. Yet on occasion I still buy into it like an addict jonesing for their next fix.

I own a Polaroid Spectra camera, which worked satisfactorily, but wasn't worth it given the cost of film. A poor value long before color printers were available. And keeping with the sentiment of the original post, I should again emphasize that I received my Polaroid camera as a gift. Recalling how novel it was at first, until I realized that I spent enough on film to by several of these cameras.

Leaving a Polaroid camera as "the gift that keeps on taking".

 

[thejuice]

Its a neat idea, a very cool gadget. Its more personal, fun and tactile than digital, good for a picture wall collage thing normies do. I had a Polaroid camera as a birthday present, I was anxious to use it after the initial novelty because of how expensive taking pictures was iirc. I ended up using disposables, even though the Polaroid had film left!