This month Polaroid announced that they will stop producing the instant film that made them a household name over 60 years ago. The company sights digital photography as the reason for the decision and admits that it failed to adapt to this changing industry. Upon hearing the news, I began to think about the photography industry and realized that they are quite similar to us office supply dealers.
For example, at one time, there were nine different independent office supply dealers in our city. Today, we are the only one remaining in a 40 mile radius. The same can be said about your local photo shop. As a child, my parents would visit our neighborhood camera store weekly to develop our pictures (my folks were 35mm enthusiasts and rarely used Polaroid). Today, there are no independent photo places around.
Are printed photos dead? Nowadays, most people say, "Can you send me (i.e. via email) that photo when you have a chance?" In addition, sales of inkjet photo printers area down suggesting that digital photo services and email may have send the printed photo to an early grave.
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