![]() ![]() He felt this presented not only a safety hazard, but a discomfort factor in viewing all those bright lights. It was 1926 when Land was walking along Broadway in New York City. He was overwhelmed by all the bright lights of the stores and signs and the glare from all the headlights on the cars. His management responsibilities ended when he stepped down as Chairman at the age of 73.Ĭircumstance and Serendipity Started the Process During his 40 years of activity, he was variously CEO, COO and Director of Research. Besides having the position of Polaroid’s chairman, Dr, Land was its president from 1937 to 1975. Started in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and spread across several towns, Polaroid became a juggernaut of innovation and scientific discovery. The Polaroid Corporation was founded in 1937 as a follow on to the Land-Wheelright Laboratories that Land created with one of his Harvard Professors. In the 1960s, a Polaroid marketing executive estimated that half the households in the U.S. Land did that by his invention of the instant camera that radically changed the picture-taking habits of millions of people (both amateurs and professionals) around there world, not even including his other breakthrough products. Land.Ī game-changing innovator changes the lives of countless people. Despite the fact that he had no formal degree, his employees, friends and the media respected his great scientific accomplishments by deferentially addressing him as Dr. Land was known was both a transcendent innovator and innovative leader in his business the Polaroid Corporation. ![]() He received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Carnegie Institute of Technology, University, Willams College, Tufts College, Washington University, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, University of Massachusetts, Brandeis University and many others. The Model 95 Land Camera was the first camera to use instant film to quickly produce photographs without developing them in a film laboratory. Land, primarily known as the inventor of the immensely popular Polaroid instant camera, known as the Polaroid Land Camera that was introduced in 1947. He said, “If anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing to excess.” He usually described himself as an inventor and physicist, but he also was well-versed in chemistry, optics and many other disciplines and sciences. He was a scientist first and foremost “dedicated to performing an experiment every day.” This strict disciple of continuous exploration, experimentation, testing and refining that led to those hundreds of patents reflected what he believed was a basic inherent trait in himself and other scientists who made a difference in their fields. He was a deep person of great character devoid of flair, charisma and grandiosity like so many famous businesspeople today. His relative obscurity today reflects the fact that the marvelous inventions for which he was best known were rendered virtually obsolete by the very digital technology revolution that turned Steve Jobs into a international business and cultural icon. He created one of the most technically-advanced, game-changing significant products of its time. Yet, today, few people remember (let alone appreciate) this technology pioneer, scientist and inventor extraordinaire. He never completed a degree at Harvard University, but he was self-taught and superbly competent, even brilliant in applying what he learned about physics, chemistry and other disciplines to his numerous discoveries and achievements. ![]() This driven, incredibly talented man held 535 patents, second to only to Thomas Edison’s 1,093 patents at that time. Steve Jobs of Apple was both inspired and awed by him and in many ways shaped Apple after his company. ![]()
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