Starship Asterisk*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Land wrote:

[b][color=#0000FF]Wurlitzer 850 Peacock jukebox[/color][/b]

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[b][color=#0000FF]Polaroid Land Camera Model 95[/color][/b]

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<<Edwin Herbert Land, (May 7, 1909 – March 1, 1991) was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. Among other things, he invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and his retinex theory of color vision. His Polaroid instant camera, which went on sale in late 1948, made it possible for a picture to be taken and developed in 60 seconds or less. After developing a polarizing film, Edwin Land returned to Harvard University. However, he still did not finish his studies or receive a degree. Once Land could see the solution to a problem in his head, he lost all motivation to write it down or prove his vision to others. Often his wife, at the prodding of his instructor, would extract from him the answers to homework problems. She would then write up the homework and hand it in so he could receive credit and not fail the course.

In 1932 Land established the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories together with his Harvard physics instructor to commercialize his polarizing technology. Wheelwright, his instructor, came from a family of financial means and agreed to fund the company. The company was renamed the Polaroid Corporation in 1937.

Land further developed and produced the sheet polarizers under the Polaroid trademark. Although the initial major application was for sunglasses and scientific work, it quickly found many additional applications: for color animation in the Wurlitzer 850 Peacock jukebox of 1942, for glasses in full-color stereoscopic (3-D) movies, to control brightness of light through a window, a necessary component of all LCDs, and many more. During World War II, he worked on military tasks, which included developing dark-adaptation goggles, target finders, the first passively guided smart bombs, and a special stereoscopic viewing system called the Vectograph which revealed camouflaged enemy positions in aerial photography.

A little more than three years later, on February 21, 1947, Edwin Land demonstrated an instant camera and associated film. Called the Land Camera, it was in commercial sale less than two years later. Polaroid originally manufactured sixty units of this first camera. Fifty-seven were put up for sale at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston before the 1948 Christmas holiday. Polaroid marketers incorrectly guessed that the camera and film would remain in stock long enough to manufacture a second run based on customer demand. All fifty-seven cameras and all of the film were sold on the first day of demonstrations.

During his time at Polaroid, Land was notorious for his marathon research sessions. When Land conceived of an idea, he would experiment and brainstorm until the problem was solved with no breaks of any kind. He needed to have food brought to him and to be reminded to eat. He once wore the same clothes for eighteen consecutive days while solving problems with the commercial production of polarizing film. As the Polaroid company grew, Land had teams of assistants working in shifts at his side. As one team wore out, the next team was brought in to continue the work.>>

Moonlady wrote:I dont think that instant photography will be possible, ever, what a hokum!
We all know that taken pictures are send to Taiwan, painted there by millions of workers and send back to the photographic labs.

bystander wrote:

Moonlady wrote:I dont think that instant photography will be possible, ever, what a hokum!
We all know that taken pictures are send to Taiwan, painted there by millions of workers and send back to the photographic labs.

Digital photography is pretty close to instantaneous. It depends on a large number of pixels (smaller relatives of pixies) to do the processing. The more of them you have in your camera, the better the quality of the image. Of course, they are just digital images. You still have to send a copy to Taiwan if you want it painted.

orin stepanek wrote:I have a small digital camera that does what I want it to! The neat thing is I don't have to drop the film off for processing! Just plug my camera into my computer and let Photosmart do the work! Besides my eyes can't tell if the picture is full of it (pixels) or not.

saturno2 wrote:When I was in high school, I wanted to make a machine that instantly copied a
picture of a book.
But my instruments were very artisanal.
Years later invented the photocopier.
I think if is possible to make a high-resolution instant photography.
A small machine, without help of Tawian or computer.
Indeed!!

Beyond wrote: But it's just a bit hard to aim a photo-copier at something, and there's no adjustable focus. :mrgreen:

Chris Peterson wrote:

Beyond wrote: But it's just a bit hard to aim a photo-copier at something, and there's no adjustable focus.

5926965642_copycat_tabby_cat_sitting_on_a_copier_xlarge.jpg

Beyond wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote:

Beyond wrote: But it's just a bit hard to aim a photo-copier at something, and there's no adjustable focus.

5926965642_copycat_tabby_cat_sitting_on_a_copier_xlarge.jpg

I see i was wrong.That copier managed to take a picture of the black hole in the cat nebula

geckzilla wrote:
I completely blame Photoshop for mutilating that poor cat's left forepaw.