How a 3 year old helped to invent the Polaroid camera
When it comes to solving problems or making creative breakthroughs it can be helpful to think with a childlike mindset. Question everything and don’t accept the status quo.
The scientist and inventor Edwin Land was born on 7th May 1909 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
He is most famous for being the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation.
The technology he developed in their labs found use in sunglasses, night vision goggles and the development of the U-2 spy plane.
In common with other inventors, Land was known to work extremely hard and would spend many hours researching and developing potential new applications.
His most commercially successful product, however, came about as a result of his 3 year old daughter’s inquisitiveness.
Watching her father as he took photos of her one sunny afternoon in Santa Fe she asked:
“Daddy, why can’t I see the photos right now?”
He paused for a moment before the brilliance of her question sank in.
Land promptly set about trying to find a satisfactory answer to his child’s line of inquiry.
Four years later, in 1947, the result of that investigation was launched: the Polaroid camera.
It was a runaway success and remains a strong seller 70 years later.
