A hi-tech Polaroid: Perfect for the Big Day



Everyone’s favourite instant camera is here again – just in time for the season when enough sherry can make anyone forget the price of prints.



But Polaroid isn’t just back – it’s gone digital. I was suspicious, of course. When brands die off then return ‘by popular demand’ it’s usually a marketing exercise choreographed as carefully as an episode of The X Factor.



With Polaroid, though, the refusal to let the instant camera die was the real thing. Fans were outraged when Polaroid stopped making instants, and companies bought up the remaining stocks of film.



You can view images on the 2.7in LCD screen before committing to a hard copy. Sadly, pictures look better here than on the finished photograph. The digital technology means you get a 14-megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom and an SD slot for plugging in memory (up to 32GB). Prints are small - 4x3in. A new 30-sheet pack costs £15 - that's 50p per print. The camera comes with ten sheets to get you going

Meanwhile, the ‘real’ Polaroid was busy – recruiting Lady Gaga to unveil the new, Z340 digital camera, which prints off photos at 50p a time instead of £1.



Cleverly, you also get to preview the 14-megapixel snaps on an LCD screen before deciding to print – which ensures that even on Polaroid, men can be tormented by women insistent that they capture ‘my best side.’



Was it worth Lady G taking time out from her busy schedule modelling bacon bikinis? Well, sort of. It’s been nearly 60 years since Polaroid appeared, but the ‘instant print’ still has a warm, gadgety ‘Ooh’ factor that’ll ensure the family have something to talk about until at least 9am on Christmas Day.



Sadly, digital isn’t all good. The 4x3in prints emerge after an age, and even worse, they come out as a finished product.



No more flapping them around as they develop – one of the crucial Polaroid bonding experiences.



Worse still, they look pretty grotty, too – even compared to the Z340’s LCD screen, which you’d have to call a bit of an oversight.



Were Andy Warhol still alive, I suspect he would turn up his nose at this…



£230, firebox.com





Stream if you want to go faster



Most older people have learnt to deal with the idea that iPods exist, that music can be transferred down wires, and that the expensive CDs they blew their money on in the Eighties are now worth as little as the cassettes that preceded them. This is all fine.

It’s just when you mention music-streaming services such as Spotify that eyes start to glaze over, and the elderly start to plead that they have to be urgently excused to make the tea.

Rara.com lands with an impressive thud: It launches in 15 countries at once, offers ten million tracks, and the first few months are 99p

Rara.com aims to be Spotify – but for older people, and non-nerds.



It’s certainly landing with an impressive thud: it launches in 15 countries at once, offers ten million tracks, and the first few months are 99p.



It also feels far more ‘fun’ – it’s colourful, TV-like, and offers ‘radio stations’ and music suggestions.



If this is your first experience of digital music, full stop, you’re going to feel like you’ve been teleported into the 31st century.



Real live pop stars will pitch in to recommend favourite tracks, and there are no ads.



Which is also the problem. If they’re to hit their target of 900 million listeners (more than use Facebook) they need people to try it.

