WEBVTT 00:05.605 --> 00:11.111 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 00:11.111 --> 00:14.948 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% (seagulls squawking, waves lapping) 00:14.948 --> 00:16.349 align:left position:17.5% line:71% size:72.5% (people calling and talking in background) 00:16.349 --> 00:20.587 align:left position:40% line:71% size:50% NARRATOR: Miami, Florida, 1972. 00:20.587 --> 00:23.289 align:left position:27.5% line:77% size:62.5% The cars, fabulous. 00:23.289 --> 00:26.259 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% The Dolphins, undefeated. 00:26.259 --> 00:30.163 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%   The Democratic and Republican conventions had come to town. 00:30.163 --> 00:34.067 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% But the biggest game around was a product launch party, 00:34.067 --> 00:38.638 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and the thing up for sale was a camera. 00:38.638 --> 00:41.441 align:left position:32.5% line:77% size:57.5% RHIANNON ADAM: This tiny little pocket-sized camera 00:41.441 --> 00:44.778 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% which folded up, and this perfect image that came out, 00:44.778 --> 00:47.047 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% the perfection of that system 00:47.047 --> 00:49.883 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% and how that made photography accessible and portable-- 00:49.883 --> 00:51.584 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% that is groundbreaking. 00:51.584 --> 00:52.986 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% (shutter clicks, flash bursts, camera whirs) 00:52.986 --> 00:56.356 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% NARRATOR: The SX-70 instant camera was unlike anything 00:56.356 --> 00:58.291 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65% anyone had ever seen, 00:58.291 --> 01:01.928 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and it was every inch the kind of revolutionary device 01:01.928 --> 01:05.398 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% that Polaroid was already famous for. 01:05.398 --> 01:07.634 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I can't imagine a world without the Polaroid. 01:07.634 --> 01:10.503 align:left position:30% line:77% size:60% AINISSA RAMIREZ: Many of my early milestones in my life 01:10.503 --> 01:12.472 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% were taken with a Polaroid camera. 01:12.472 --> 01:15.175 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% First Communion, loss of a first tooth, 01:15.175 --> 01:16.943 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% all are in that white frame. 01:16.943 --> 01:20.080 align:left position:22.5% line:5% size:67.5% CHRIS BONANOS: Polaroid at its peak was enabling people 01:20.080 --> 01:23.283 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to make about a billion pictures a year. 01:23.283 --> 01:25.685 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% No one didn't know what a Polaroid photograph was. 01:25.685 --> 01:29.923 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% It's one of the most instantly recognizable brands ever. 01:29.923 --> 01:31.758 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% That sense of playfulness 01:31.758 --> 01:34.294 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% was really at the kind of heart of the brand. 01:34.294 --> 01:38.465 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% NARRATOR: Behind the magic was the genius of a man named Edwin Land, 01:38.465 --> 01:42.402 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% an inventor who'd been chasing the dream of instant photography 01:42.402 --> 01:45.271 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% since way back in the 1940s. 01:45.271 --> 01:47.774 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Land is an icon, in his time and today. 01:47.774 --> 01:51.778 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% He grasped the way that we take pictures now. 01:51.778 --> 01:55.715 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% Take a wallet out of my pocket 01:55.715 --> 01:58.751 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% and perhaps open the wallet, press a button, 01:58.751 --> 02:01.621 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% close the wallet, and have the picture. 02:01.621 --> 02:03.423 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Steve Jobs would tell you 02:03.423 --> 02:05.992 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% that Land was his idol in many, many ways, 02:05.992 --> 02:08.228 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% because he created this technology company 02:08.228 --> 02:11.397 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% that made products that people didn't even know they wanted. 02:11.397 --> 02:16.169 align:left position:45% line:77% size:45% LAND: A camera which you would use not on the occasion of parties only 02:16.169 --> 02:18.872 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% or of trips only, 02:18.872 --> 02:20.440 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% but a camera that you would use 02:20.440 --> 02:22.809 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% as often as your pencil or your eyeglasses. 02:22.809 --> 02:25.645 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% PARKER SARGENT: That Polaroid camera helped 02:25.645 --> 02:27.780 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% expand our knowledge of ourselves, 02:27.780 --> 02:29.883 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% knowledge of our community, 02:29.883 --> 02:33.653 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% and also what we can become. 02:33.653 --> 02:36.823 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% NARRATOR: Never before had anything so completely 02:36.823 --> 02:39.993 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% incarnated the idea that a single machine 02:39.993 --> 02:41.761 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% really could change the world. 02:41.761 --> 02:46.065 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% For years, Land seemed able to divine what people wanted. 02:46.065 --> 02:50.570 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% It was a unique, intoxicating position of power. 02:50.570 --> 02:53.573 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And making the impossible possible? 02:53.573 --> 02:56.142 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% That was better than any drug on the planet. 02:56.142 --> 02:57.577 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% RON FIERSTEIN: He was a bit of an egotist. 02:57.577 --> 02:59.546 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You might even say a narcissist. 02:59.546 --> 03:03.116 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% This person who has been almost hero-worshipped 03:03.116 --> 03:06.252 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% suddenly feels that the brand is him 03:06.252 --> 03:07.720 align:left position:25% line:5% size:65% and he is the brand. 03:07.720 --> 03:09.889 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% That it cannot, somehow, exist without him. 03:09.889 --> 03:12.759 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% SARGENT: For him, the Polaroid camera is 03:12.759 --> 03:16.262 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% something that society needs and he must deliver. 03:16.262 --> 03:18.298 align:left position:45% line:83% size:45% LAND: Every significant invention 03:18.298 --> 03:21.100 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% must come to a world that is not prepared for it. 03:21.100 --> 03:24.037 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% SARGENT: And so failure for someone like Edwin Land 03:24.037 --> 03:27.073 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65% must seem like death. 03:31.844 --> 03:37.884 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% (crickets chirping, owls hooting) 03:37.884 --> 03:42.088 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 03:53.099 --> 03:57.770 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 04:05.578 --> 04:07.914 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% NARRATOR: Late one summer night in Connecticut, 04:07.914 --> 04:10.383 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% on a back road in the deep dark, 04:10.383 --> 04:13.186 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% two vehicles were speeding towards disaster. 04:13.186 --> 04:17.457 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 04:17.457 --> 04:20.026 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% The glare from the headlights was so blinding, 04:20.026 --> 04:22.195 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% there was barely time to swerve. 04:23.296 --> 04:25.598 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5% (tires screeching) 04:25.598 --> 04:27.734 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% A crash would have been fatal. 04:27.734 --> 04:31.137 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% But in one car, one passenger was more interested 04:31.137 --> 04:34.007 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% in the physics of what had just transpired 04:34.007 --> 04:36.042 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% than the danger. 04:36.042 --> 04:41.547 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% His name was Edwin Land, and he was 14 years old. 04:41.547 --> 04:44.517 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 04:44.517 --> 04:47.153 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% BONANOS: Edwin Land was born in Connecticut in 1909. 04:47.153 --> 04:49.389 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% He didn't come from a family of intellectuals. 04:49.389 --> 04:51.758 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% His father was a scrap metal dealer. 04:51.758 --> 04:54.627 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Land, though, was, you know, the classic image 04:54.627 --> 04:56.729 align:left position:22.5% line:71% size:67.5% of the, like, overachieving brainy kid. 04:56.729 --> 04:58.898 align:left position:40% line:71% size:50% You're talking about the World War I era. 04:58.898 --> 05:00.266 align:left position:37.5% line:71% size:52.5% Obviously, there were no computers 05:00.266 --> 05:02.135 align:left position:15% line:71% size:75% and there were no TV screens. 05:02.135 --> 05:06.272 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% Entertainment really consisted of things like the kaleidoscope. 05:06.272 --> 05:08.574 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% And he used to love those things. 05:08.574 --> 05:10.076 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% He became fascinated with optics, 05:10.076 --> 05:12.045 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and this is as a very young boy. 05:12.045 --> 05:14.514 align:left position:40% line:5% size:50% NARRATOR: By the time he was a senior in high school, 05:14.514 --> 05:16.249 align:left position:15% line:5% size:75% his science teacher confessed 05:16.249 --> 05:18.217 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% that he had nothing left to teach him. 05:18.217 --> 05:21.888 align:left position:25% line:5% size:65% So, at the age of 17, Land enrolled at Harvard-- 05:21.888 --> 05:25.358 align:left position:12.5% line:5% size:77.5% only to drop out after a single semester. 05:25.358 --> 05:27.126 align:left position:35% line:77% size:55% (chuckling): He's bored with Harvard. He's bored with school. 05:27.126 --> 05:29.796 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% He's bored with the normal physics courses. 05:29.796 --> 05:32.465 align:left position:15% line:71% size:75% He wasn't shy of doing things 05:32.465 --> 05:33.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% in an unorthodox manner. 05:33.900 --> 05:36.002 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And dropping out of Harvard, I mean, 05:36.002 --> 05:38.204 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%   that seems like, like such a crazy thing to do. 05:38.204 --> 05:42.408 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% NARRATOR: In 1927, Land moved to New York City, 05:42.408 --> 05:44.711 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% where he hoped to develop a filter 05:44.711 --> 05:47.113 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% to solve the problem of headlight glare. 05:47.113 --> 05:49.749 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% And whenever the young inventor needed help, 05:49.749 --> 05:52.885 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% he enlisted his girlfriend, Terre Maislen. 05:54.721 --> 05:56.356 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% Late at night, 05:56.356 --> 05:58.057 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the pair would sneak into the physics laboratory 05:58.057 --> 06:00.860 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% at Columbia University to conduct experiments 06:00.860 --> 06:03.363 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% with different glare-reducing materials. 06:03.363 --> 06:05.064 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Land described it 06:05.064 --> 06:09.035 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% as a "transient, violent need to create." 06:09.035 --> 06:11.003 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% The urge was so strong, he explained, 06:11.003 --> 06:15.174 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% "you have a feeling of almost divine guidance." 06:15.174 --> 06:17.410 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% The solution to the glare problem 06:17.410 --> 06:19.712 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% on America's roads, Land now believed, 06:19.712 --> 06:24.117 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% lay in a physics phenomenon known as polarization. 06:24.117 --> 06:26.185 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% I will preface this by saying 06:26.185 --> 06:29.322 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% this is a very coarse approximation of the science, 06:29.322 --> 06:34.160 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% but: light rays coming at you are actually quite scattered. 06:34.160 --> 06:38.164 align:left position:37.5% line:77% size:52.5% NEWSCASTER: It is evident that water waves have an up and down motion, 06:38.164 --> 06:40.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% as well as a direction of travel. 06:40.500 --> 06:43.603 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% And so it is with light waves. 06:43.603 --> 06:44.871 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% BONANOS: A polarizing filter, 06:44.871 --> 06:47.874 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% it has, at the microscopic level, slats. 06:47.874 --> 06:50.276 align:left position:12.5% line:71% size:77.5% Some light comes in, some light doesn't come in. 06:50.276 --> 06:52.245 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% You have one polarizing filter. 06:52.245 --> 06:53.713 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You see, you can see through it. 06:53.713 --> 06:57.383 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% Second one goes behind it, doesn't change the color much. 06:57.383 --> 07:00.319 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% Turn it 90 degrees, and it goes to black. 07:00.319 --> 07:02.054 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% NEWSCASTER: It was not until the invention 07:02.054 --> 07:04.123 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% of a synthetic polarizing material 07:04.123 --> 07:06.459 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% by the scientist Edwin H. Land 07:06.459 --> 07:08.828 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% that polarized light could be put to work 07:08.828 --> 07:10.530 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% outside the laboratory. 07:10.530 --> 07:14.000 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% NARRATOR: By 1932, Land had founded his own lab 07:14.000 --> 07:17.470 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to refine the manufacturing 07:17.470 --> 07:20.640 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% of thin plastic polarized sheets. 07:20.640 --> 07:22.508 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% Just five years later, 07:22.508 --> 07:24.677 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% it had become a proper company-- 07:24.677 --> 07:26.078 align:left position:40% line:5% size:50% Polaroid. 07:26.078 --> 07:28.714 align:left position:17.5% line:5% size:72.5% Land's new polarizing film worked perfectly 07:28.714 --> 07:30.383 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% to reduce headlight glare, 07:30.383 --> 07:35.154 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% but, as it turned out, Detroit would never go for it. 07:35.154 --> 07:36.789 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% RAMIREZ: The automotive industry decided 07:36.789 --> 07:38.691 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% that too much work was required in order 07:38.691 --> 07:41.694 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% to put special films on the headlights 07:41.694 --> 07:44.096 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and then also retrofit all the other automobiles, 07:44.096 --> 07:45.932 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% so they weren't really interested. 07:45.932 --> 07:47.567 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% BONANOS (chuckles): It was a great idea, 07:47.567 --> 07:49.702 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and still has not been... 07:49.702 --> 07:52.605 align:left position:37.5% line:77% size:52.5% (laughing): ...been, been worked out 80 years later. 07:52.605 --> 07:54.707 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% NARRATOR: Land was undeterred. 07:54.707 --> 07:58.611 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% He had already dreamed up other uses for his plastic polarizers. 07:58.611 --> 08:01.380 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% FILM NARRATOR: Polaroid light control materials 08:01.380 --> 08:04.083 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% will affect the lives of increasing millions 08:04.083 --> 08:05.551 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% in the new world ahead. 08:05.551 --> 08:07.286 align:left position:37.5% line:77% size:52.5% FIERSTEIN: He used it to make Polaroid sunglasses. 08:07.286 --> 08:09.255 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% Camera lenses. 08:09.255 --> 08:12.225 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% RAMIREZ: He made the polarizing films that went into 3D glasses, 08:12.225 --> 08:14.327 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% special desk lamps that didn't have glare. 08:14.327 --> 08:16.462 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% BONANOS: In the 1930s, Polaroid got 08:16.462 --> 08:20.199 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% licensed to make a window for a railcar. 08:20.199 --> 08:22.235 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65% (train whistle blows) 08:22.235 --> 08:24.370 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% FILM NARRATOR: If the sun is directly on you, 08:24.370 --> 08:26.372 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% you can rotate the inner window pane 08:26.372 --> 08:28.808 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and cut down the incoming light. 08:28.808 --> 08:31.444 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% RAMIREZ: So Land is looking at every way that he can use this product. 08:31.444 --> 08:32.612 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% The war starts. 08:32.612 --> 08:34.380 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (engine roaring) 08:34.380 --> 08:35.982 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% The armies and the military are trying 08:35.982 --> 08:37.617 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% to find every advantage that they can have. 08:37.617 --> 08:38.951 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% And one of them is to block light. 08:38.951 --> 08:40.620 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% BONANOS: Very quickly became clear 08:40.620 --> 08:42.922 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% during the Second World War that using polarizing filters 08:42.922 --> 08:44.790 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% could make gunsights and bombsights 08:44.790 --> 08:47.260 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% and goggles for pilots. 08:47.260 --> 08:50.463 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% The war effort was a big boost to Polaroid. 08:50.463 --> 08:52.598 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% The company grew like crazy during the war. 08:52.598 --> 08:56.502 align:left position:37.5% line:5% size:52.5% FIERSTEIN: But Land could see that the war was not going to last forever. 08:56.502 --> 08:58.571 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% BONANOS: And he knew that when those contracts came to an end, 08:58.571 --> 09:01.007 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that he was going to have to shrink way down again. 09:01.007 --> 09:02.808 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% And he didn't like that idea. 09:02.808 --> 09:04.243 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% So he was trying to figure out, you know, 09:04.243 --> 09:06.078 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% "What's the future going to be for my company?" 09:06.078 --> 09:07.980 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% Said, "We're going to have to do something else." 09:07.980 --> 09:11.980 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% And he was sort of fishing for what that other thing was.