Polaroid files for chapter 11 bankruptcy, again

Polaroid may have defeated Kodak in the instant camera business, but it can't beat a sagging economy. Polaroid (or Polaroid Corp to be precise) just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in 7 years. Of course, the new Polaroid Corporation is really just a holding company for the Polaroid name -- a brand that has been thoroughly diluted by its application to sub-standard TVs, vile portable DVD players, and gimmicky PoGo digital cameras. Polaroid says, "We expect to continue our operations as normal during the reorganization and are planning for new product launches in 2009." That a threat?

[Thanks JideOsan, image courtesy of Jerkwithacamera]

[waiownsyou @ Dec 19th 2008 5:07AM]

Oh, Polaroid.

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[spam_free @ Dec 19th 2008 9:32AM]

I really miss good ASCII art. Thanks for the nostalgia. :-)

[untitled @ Dec 19th 2008 5:17AM]

Shake it.. shake shake.. shake it...

[Flashpoint @ Dec 19th 2008 9:22AM]

If Your not competitive....NO BAILOUT FOR YOU !

[Tim Brown @ Dec 19th 2008 5:57AM]

Would some one please put them out of their misery. Not even Jesus has managed his second coming yet!

[Alexei @ Dec 19th 2008 6:03AM]

I wish I kept my old Polaroid camera...

[B3astofthe3ast @ Dec 19th 2008 6:13AM]

Good riddance?

[dotAaron @ Dec 19th 2008 6:51AM]

Kinda sad to see them go, but they were never gonna get anywhere with those abysmal digital cameras and cheap telly's :)

Still have my Polaroid instant camera some where :D

[Gad Get @ Dec 19th 2008 7:14AM]

No more Polaroid TVs? I think I might cry!


BWAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAAAHA!


My crying sounds suspiciously like evil laughter, okay?

[ipubs bastard child @ Dec 19th 2008 7:19AM]

They should sell their printing wizardy to a real camera manufacturer. I like their new tiny digital photo printer. Small photos, great for low res shots and quick snaps but if they became part of a larger conglomerate, they'd have more scope to float through times like this when they cant think of enough quality products to keep them afloat! Poloaroid as a brand still carries some weight and I'm sure it's worth more by name than it is by its latest string of poor, unimaginative, products.

[absinthe party @ Dec 19th 2008 7:20AM]

Dear Engadget,

Can we get a bullet-pointed round-up of all the tech companies that are pretty much floundering at this point? Also, please include pie charts and bar graphs for those of us who can only understand information when it's presented in an easy-to-follow powerpoint presentation. I'm sure that other readers, and myself, are pretty interested in knowing what companies we can buy with our tax returns.

Thank-you in advance.

Love,
Joe Feral

[SIC TR4NSIT @ Dec 19th 2008 8:00AM]

Yeah, I still have business assoc. that refuse to admit that we are in a recession. I'm starting to think that cash could be a form of heating energy and they'd still live in denial.



weAREengadget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Nk8CH5UVc

[Boards of Canada @ Dec 19th 2008 8:50AM]

yes its sad.

[BigDaddyK @ Dec 19th 2008 9:19AM]

'Polaroid says, "We expect to continue our operations as normal...'

Yeah, how's that working out for ya?

[ryan l. @ Dec 19th 2008 9:55AM]

I think this has more to do with the founder of Polaroids parent company sitting in jail for running a ponzi scheme similiar to Mr. Madoff here in MN.

Polaroid I believe was under the umbrella of Petters Group Worldwide, whose founder Tom Petters is currently in lockup for running a couple of billion dollar fraud.

[capissen @ Dec 19th 2008 1:26PM]

It's "Peters Group" but is pronounced "Petters," and yes, you're absolutely correct. The part of that group that is undergoing massive fraud investigations was somewhat separate from Polaroid, Sun Country Airlines, etc., but I'm sure the impact is being felt throughout the entire organization.

I work on the same road that Peters Group is on, got to see all the FBI vans and cop cars when that story broke :-)

[capissen @ Dec 19th 2008 2:14PM]

...actually I just figured out that I'm wrong about the spelling of "Petters Group." [ryan I.] was correct. And to think I've been reading that sign wrong all this time! /facepalm

[phlavor @ Dec 19th 2008 1:04PM]

There is something warm and tactile about a Polaroid shot. Last year at Yuri's Night someone asked me if they could take my picture. When they pulled out a Polaroid I told them I was honored as they weren't making the film anymore. I was one of his last 23 shots.

Additionally I spoke with an Polaroid engineer at a party once who told me that they were sitting on hundreds of patents that could make them tons of money but management were all idiots. And so it goes.