A sharply dressed Englishman sat down with a small coffee, black. It was a sunny, but breezy San Francisco afternoon. He handed me a rare, hardcover edition of Edwin Land’s biography and proceeded to share his passion for a new chapter in the story of the beloved Polaroid brand. His enthusiasm was contagious. This man, with nothing but pure verve, was prepared to move to Silicon Valley and bring Land’s spirit back to life. He had me hooked — the intersection of art and technology is my sweet spot.
Frederick Blackford and I had several more meetings. I met his co-founder Tommy. I contributed resources in the form of an angel investment and ideas I’d been sitting on for quite some time. Fred and Tommy assembled an all star team. They found cool space in San Francisco and began experimenting. It’s a crazy lab of innovation, art, and science. It isn’t fancy—it reminds me of the early days of Twitter. Although I’m full time on my own wildly ambitious project, I accepted the position of Chairman.
Months flew by. Then, I got my hands on Polaroid Swing. Amazing. I laughed out loud at what it could do. It was awesome. Calling this an app doesn’t do it justice. It digs deep into the inner workings of the camera and transforms it into something capable of producing magic. Tapping on glass creates a new, interactive, genre-defining medium that is, evolutionary. I started playing with it. My four year old son loves it. Now he says, “Daddy, don’t take a picture. Make a Polaroid.” Perfect. Love that kid.
There’s photos, there’s videos, and then there’s something entirely different; Polaroids. In the early days of Twitter, I used to say, “There’s a time for text messages, and there’s a time for Tweets. When you’re going to be late to dinner, that’s a text. When a plane lands in front of you on the Hudson, that’s a Tweet.” My hunch is that there’s going to be a time for photos, a time for videos, and a time for Polaroids. We’ll use Polaroid Swing in special moments to capture the graceful fluidity of life.
This new chapter, Polaroid Swing, launches today. I’m proud to play a small role in this storied brand and this not so small step forward in human expression. I’m eager to see creativity unlocked in new ways, new stories come alive, and both the playful and the meaningful being explored. In the coming months and years, I hope to discover things I couldn’t predict or imagine both from people using Polaroid Swing, and from this ageless brand finding its way back to what made it so special.
Biz Stone, Chairman
Polaroid Swing
