我好奇故我在

Polaroid
touched up
by Barry Silverstein
May 4, 2009 issue

http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=437

Truly iconic global brands are those that embed themselves in popular culture. They are the brands that become part of our language, such as “Please FedEx that package” or “I need a Xerox of this page”—phrases, by the way, that give trademark attorneys fits because they turn valuable brand names into generic throwaways. The maker of Aspirin, a medicine trademarked in 1899, could do little to protect its trade name once it became a widely accepted generic term.
真正具有代表性的全球品牌是已經跟流行文化緊密結合一起。這些品牌都已經成為我們(英文)語言的一部份，像是請FedEx這個包裹，或是我需要Xerox這一頁──順便一提，這個情況帶給專利商標律師苦惱，因為他們將有價值的品牌名字轉成日常可隨時使用的用語。

One of those iconic brands is Polaroid. Inextricably linked with instant photography, “a Polaroid” can be thought of as both instant camera and instant film. The Polaroid brand was born in 1948 and quickly became a symbol of a generation that craved instant gratification. They got it with Polaroid, first through a photo that emerged from a secretive sandwich that needed to be pulled apart and waved (almost like a magic wand) until the photo mysteriously appeared. Later, with product improvements, the photo simply emerged from the camera and began developing right before the consumer’s eyes.
其中一個代表性的品牌是Polaroid(寶麗 萊)。寶麗萊緊密地與即時顯影相連，被認為是立即的照相機以及底片。寶麗萊品牌誕生於1948，並且很快的成為想要立即滿足一代的象徵。他們拿著寶麗萊得 到立即滿足，從一個看起來像很秘密的有多層物，吐出一張照片，需要用手拉出來並且揮一揮(就好像揮魔術棒)，直到這張照片神秘地出現影像。之後隨著產品的 改良，這個照片可以從相機中直接出現，並且在消費者眼前顯影。

Polaroid was a genuine American technology success story. Physicist-inventor Dr. Edwin Land conceived the one-step process for developing and printing photos that became known as instant photography. Rob Walker of The New York Times calls Land “a Harvard dropout who attained a Steve Jobsian cultural status as an innovator-businessman. By the time his company began selling its first instant-photo camera in 1948, Land had already applied his discoveries in the realm of light polarization to a variety of products, including sunglasses, film and lighting” (“Consumed: Photo Finish,” March 16, 2008).
寶麗萊是一個真正的美國技術成功的故事。物理發明家Dr. Edwin Land構想出顯影跟印出照片合為一個步驟，也就是後來所熟知的即時顯影。紐約時報的Rob Walker稱呼Land為一個哈佛輟學生擁有像Steve Job創新企業人士的地位。當他的公司在1948年開始賣第一個拍立得相機時，Land已經應用其在偏振光領域中的發明於多樣的產品中，包括太陽眼鏡、底 片、以及照明設備。

Polaroid was a strident protector of both its trademark and its patents. The company won a patent suit against Kodak in 1985 and effectively put Kodak out of the instant photography business, virtually guaranteeing a Polaroid monopoly. Polaroid’s instant-photo technology was so good that it went far beyond the consumer market. The film became valuable to artists, graphic designers and in medical imaging applications.
寶麗萊對於它的商標以及專利是一個強烈的保護者。這家公司在1985 跟Kodak打專利官司，並且成功的將Kodak逐出即時顯影市場，無形中保證了寶麗萊的獨佔。寶麗萊的立即拍技術好到超過一般消費者的市場。這家公司對 於藝術家、設計家以及醫療影像應用來說，非常具有價值。

But in February 2008, Polaroid as a film technology succumbed to an inevitable fate. The company shut down its film manufacturing operations and effectively closed the door on Polaroid instant photography. The reason, of course, was the advent of a whole different kind of “instant”—digital photography. Not surprisingly, digital photography has wreaked havoc on other traditional camera and film makers such as Kodak (another iconic brand that has become a shell of its previous self).
但是在2008年二月，身為軟片技術公司的寶麗 萊屈服於一個不可避免的命運。這家公司關閉它的軟片生產製造，以及基本上停產即時顯影膠卷。這原因當然是因為一個全新不同的「立即」數位相機時代的到臨所 致。不令人意外，數位攝影對於傳統相機以及軟片製造商像是Kodak等有很嚴重破壞。

Now here’s the interesting part of the Polaroid brand story: The brand simply refuses to die.
現在談談寶麗萊品牌故事的有趣部分：這個品牌拒絕死亡。

Polaroid is attempting to reinvent itself as a digital company. After going bankrupt and being acquired by Petters Group Worldwide, a company that itself is involved in a messy bankruptcy, Polaroid still managed to introduce the Polaroid PoGo in early 2009. The PoGo is the first digital camera with a built-in printer. It allows the user to preview digital photos and then print out selected ones instantly. Ironically, the printer uses another company’s technology (ZINK Imaging) to print the photos on a special paper embedded with color, so no inks are required. The product is scheduled for Spring 2009 availability.
寶麗萊企 圖想要重新以數位公司作為定位。在經歷破產以及被皮特斯世界集團(此公司也牽扯進一個麻煩的破產)購買之後，寶麗萊仍設法在2009初期推出寶麗萊 PoGo。PoGo是第一個數位相機裡面內建印表機。它可以讓使用者事先瀏覽數位照片，然後立即可以選擇相片印出。這個印表機用另一家ZINK Imaging公司的技術，可以在內有顏色途層的專用紙張上印出照片，所以不需要墨水。這產品預計2009春季面市。

But that’s only part of Polaroid’s reinvention. When Polaroid announced it was discontinuing its instant film, Save Polaroid, a grassroots group, began an effort to keep the film in production. Remarkably, in January 2009, an Austrian businessman, Florian Kaps, started “The Impossible Project” to make a Polaroid-like film available once again to people who still own Polaroid cameras. The name for Kaps’ risky project comes from something Polaroid inventor Edwin Land once said: “Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.”
但 是這只是寶麗萊重新出發的一部份。當寶麗萊宣告它要停產拍立得軟片，一個由民間團體發出的「拯救寶麗萊」活動，開始努力希望讓此種軟片可以繼續生產。 2009一月，一個澳洲商人Florian Kaps開始了這個「不可能計畫」讓現在仍有寶麗萊相機的人可以取得像寶麗萊的軟片。Kaps這個危險計畫的名字來自於寶麗萊發明者Edwin Land曾說過的話，「不要進行一個計畫，除非它是很顯然的重要以及幾乎不可能。」

Kaps seems to have the passion to make the impossible possible. He founded Polanoid.net, a web-based gallery of Polaroid photography that is the world’s largest, and he has hired former Polaroid employees to create the magic all over again. Here is how Kaps describes the plan on his website:
Kaps似乎有這個熱情讓不可能變得可能。他成立Polanoid.net，一個目前世界最大的線上寶麗萊影像藝廊，並且他雇用之前寶麗萊的員工讓過去的成功再次復活。以下就是Kaps在他的網站上描述他的計畫。

Impossible b.v. has been founded with the concrete aim to re-invent and re-start production of analog INTEGRAL FILM for vintage Polaroid cameras…
這個不可能b.v.任務，已經有明確的目標，想要改造以及重新開始生產一體成形底片給老式寶麗萊相機。

The Impossible mission is NOT to re-build Polaroid Integral film but (with the help of strategic partners) to develop a new product with new characteristics, consisting of new optimised components, produced with a streamlined modern setup. An innovative and fresh analog material, sold under a new brand name that perfectly will match the global re-positioning of Integral Films.
這個不可能的任務不是要重新建立寶麗萊一體成形底片，而是(希望藉由策略聯盟夥伴)能發展一個新的產品有不同的特色，包括新的最佳化零件，可以由現代流線化生產線製作。一個創新的類似材質，會在一個新的品牌名下販售，將會符合全球一體成形底片的重新定位。

It’s essentially Polaroid film, without the Polaroid name.
它本質上是寶麗萊軟片，但是沒有寶麗萊的名字。

To make matters even more intriguing, in late January 2009, a Luxembourg-based private equity firm bid US$ 42 million for the assets of Polaroid. (Polaroid was acquired by Petters Group Worldwide in 2005 for US$ 426 million.) The connection? The private equity firm also invests in ZINK Imaging, the company that makes the paper used in the Polaroid PoGo referenced earlier.
讓這件事情更有趣的是，在2009一月底，一個在盧森堡私人股權公司出標美 金四千二百萬想要買下寶麗萊的資產。(寶麗萊在2005年被皮特斯世界集團以四億二千六百萬美金買下)有什麼相關連？這個私人股權公司也投資於ZINK Imaging公司，這家公司生產使用於先前所提到的Polaroid PoGo相機的用紙。

But in April 2009, the intellectual property and brand name of Polaroid were acquired by a US-Canadian joint venture for US$ 86 million. This is the same group that has acquired other bankrupt brands, including Linens ’N Things and Sharper Image. The group plans to market and license the Polaroid brand name globally.
但是2009四月，寶麗萊的智慧財產權以及品牌名已經被一個美國與加拿大合資企業以八千六百萬美金萬買下。這個集團同樣也買下了其他破產的品牌，包括Linens ’N Things和Sharper Image。這個集團計畫要全球行銷以及授權寶麗萊的品牌名。

So now an iconic American brand, or what’s left of it, will be reinvented as…who knows what? It’s anybody’s guess if the new Polaroid brand will be an instant success.
所以現在一個具有代表性的美國品牌，或現在剩下了什麼，會被改造為…誰知道會是什麼？誰也拿不準新的寶麗萊品牌是否會立刻獲得成功。