The Betacantrips Travelogue

A fascinating volley in the “old arts die out” discussion.

Maximum Prophet nods a NY Times piece on a Dutch group living the retro dream: they are trying to bring back Polaroid film. This group has the machinery to make the film packs, but needs to recreate the chemicals. Polaroid Inc. stopping making the specialized chemicals years ago, after having stockpiled what they would need for their last production runs. “They want to recast an outdated production process in an abandoned Polaroid factory for an age that has fallen for digital pictures because they think people still have room in their hearts for retro photography that eschews airbrushing or Photoshop. ‘This project is about building a very interesting business to last for at least another decade,’ said Florian Kaps, the Austrian entrepreneur behind the effort [in Enschede, The Netherlands]. ‘It is about the importance of analog aspects in a more and more digital world. … If everyone runs in one direction [i.e. digital photography], it creates a niche market in the other.’”

Heartwarming story, except that the kid has already internalized that sharing is wrong. Thanks Adam! The article on Boingboing.

Javier sez, “A teenager asks Yahoo! Questions whether maintaining a lending library in his school locker is illegal (as opposed of merely in contravention of school regulations). A school friend asked to borrow off him The Catcher in the Rye, one of the books in the banned list, and one thing led to another…”

Anyway, I now operate a little mini-library that no one has access to but myself. Practically a real library, because I keep an inventory log and give people due dates and everything. I would be in so much trouble if I got caught, but I think it’s the right thing to do because before I started, almost no kid at school but myself took an active interest in reading! Now not only are all the kids reading the banned books, but go out of their way to read anything they can get their hands on. So I’m doing a good thing, right?