Mercy

I've been trying to think of a witty headline for the news that Polaroid unveiled it's latest bit of kit - a combined digital camera and instant printer named the PoGo - at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month. 'Polaroid To Know Better,' maybe, but even said in a heavy Brooklyn accent that's scraping the pun barrel, I know.

My undying gratitude and a box of Cadbury's Roses to the person who comes up with a better suggestion. In the meantime, I'm curious to see whether Polaroid's effort to win back it's customers will really fly. I'm sort of intrigued by the new camera's potential for making portrait miniatures - the images it spits out are just 2" x 3" - and by the fact that, because the photographic paper it uses is sticky-backed, the PoGo is a portable version of the Pirikura machines popular in Japan.

I'm probably not the best judge on this subject since Charles and Ray Eames' film, SX-70, gave me a shot of nostalgia for the brand, 1972 style. Check it out (below) if you have a less-than-instant 11 minutes to spare, and see if the merits of point-and-print photography don't still seem persuasive.