The latest installment of American Experience explores the hits and misses of Polaroid’s inventor-founder Edwin Land.
Watching the documentary, as the timeline progresses it becomes obvious that Land was stuck in the mindset of photography as a chemical process. So was Kodak for that matter, despite having conducted the first tests of digital photography.
My most significant takeaway from ‘Mr. Polaroid’ was learning about Meroë Morse. While saying that, “of course he loved his wife and two daughters,” the point is made that Land was “married to his work,” which included Morse for almost 25 years.
It’s easy to infer that Land’s feelings for Morse went beyond her being a highly competent and trusted colleague who made significant contributions to the company’s success. In contrast to Land’s deadpan expression in his Polaroid photos, Meroë shines in this attractive test photo.
It would be stretch to say that Polaroid’s decline began with Morse’s untimely death in 1969, but not that much of a stretch. Edwin Land isn’t alone as a Boston CEO who was as responsible for his company’s demise as he was its past success. Other failed CEO’s include DEC founder Ken Olsen, DG’s Edson DeCastro, and An Wang at his namesake company, Wang Laboratories.
Twelve years after the death of Amar Bose, his namesake company is still in business. So he’s an exception to the Boston rule, with a caveat. Bose sank an estimated billion dollars into a pet project that ultimately went nowhere. After its founder’s death, the company sold off the technology.
https://www.extremetech.com/cars/259042-bose-sells-off-revolutionary-electromagnetic-suspension