????2001年11月12號(hào)《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）曾經(jīng)刊登過(guò)一篇回顧性的文章。記者大衛(wèi)?惠特福德在文中這樣寫道：“30年來(lái)，蘭德及其麾下那些聰明的研究人員一直在馬薩諸塞州坎布里奇市實(shí)驗(yàn)室潛心完善攝影技術(shù)。甚至在如今已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生技術(shù)疲憊的孩子和成人看來(lái)，這種把戲依然至酷無(wú)比，簡(jiǎn)直不可思議。”

????蘭德是一位干勁十足、極其看重質(zhì)量的管理者，親身參與了產(chǎn)品開(kāi)發(fā)的每個(gè)步驟，還向加入其團(tuán)隊(duì)的工程師、科學(xué)家和化學(xué)家提出了越來(lái)越多的要求。他一向是一位有遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)的人。1970年，在談到未來(lái)的相機(jī)時(shí)，他將其描述為“一件總是伴隨人們左右的事物”，一種可以徑直從口袋掏出來(lái)，對(duì)準(zhǔn)目標(biāo)直接拍攝的設(shè)備。

????蘭德還是一位終極推銷員。每逢寶麗來(lái)公司的年度會(huì)議，他總會(huì)步入一個(gè)空蕩蕩的舞臺(tái)中央，向提供背景音樂(lè)的音樂(lè)家揮手致意，然后一邊走動(dòng)，一邊介紹該公司最新推出的產(chǎn)品。如果這一幕聽(tīng)起來(lái)有些熟悉的話，那絕不是什么巧合。另一位大學(xué)輟學(xué)生史蒂夫?喬布斯創(chuàng)建了一家在許多方面類似于寶麗來(lái)的公司。他經(jīng)常說(shuō)，埃德溫?蘭德是他的榜樣和偶像。

????并不是所有人都堅(jiān)信寶麗來(lái)的價(jià)值。它最大的批評(píng)者來(lái)自華爾街，他們很難認(rèn)同寶麗來(lái)公司在上世紀(jì)70年代高聳入云的估值，該公司當(dāng)時(shí)的市盈率高達(dá)90倍。事實(shí)最終證明，這些批評(píng)者是正確的。這家公司進(jìn)軍電影業(yè)務(wù)的主打產(chǎn)品、寶麗來(lái)自動(dòng)顯像電影攝影機(jī)（Polavision）最終敗給了錄像機(jī)。蘭德退休之后，新任CEO和新產(chǎn)品相繼出現(xiàn)，但Pronto!、OneShot、Spectra和其他背負(fù)著沉重塑料的寶麗來(lái)下線產(chǎn)品，幾乎跟經(jīng)典的SX-70相機(jī)（由皮革和金屬制成）沒(méi)有任何相似之處。

????1976年，柯達(dá)公司推出了自己的即時(shí)相機(jī)和膠卷，影像產(chǎn)業(yè)的格局進(jìn)一步混亂。1990年，寶麗來(lái)公司贏得了其有史以來(lái)規(guī)模最大的專利侵權(quán)案，獲賠9.09億美元，但這筆賠償金實(shí)在是杯水車薪，而且已經(jīng)為時(shí)晚矣。當(dāng)時(shí)，一小時(shí)照片沖印店已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)，隨后來(lái)臨的則是終極游戲規(guī)則改變者——數(shù)碼攝影。

????2001年10月13日，在911恐怖襲擊爆發(fā)的一個(gè)月后，深陷債務(wù)、無(wú)力回?fù)魯?shù)碼相機(jī)挑戰(zhàn)的寶麗來(lái)公司申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)。此后，寶麗來(lái)公司幾經(jīng)轉(zhuǎn)手，其中一次甚至被賣給了明尼阿波利斯州一家只對(duì)其地產(chǎn)、藝術(shù)收藏和商標(biāo)感興趣的公司。后來(lái)，這個(gè)買家的老板因操作龐氏騙局（Ponzi）被判入獄50年之后，寶麗來(lái)公司不得不第二次申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)。

????本書結(jié)尾部分用一章的篇幅簡(jiǎn)明扼要地介紹了寶麗來(lái)公司最后幾年的歷史，以及最后一個(gè)以寶麗來(lái)命名的產(chǎn)品——“不可能的FPU（膠片處理器）”。波南斯介紹說(shuō)，寶麗來(lái)商標(biāo)當(dāng)前的擁有者“不懂埃德溫?蘭德”。這一句，便已足以說(shuō)明一切。

????《財(cái)富》書簽（Weekly Read）專欄專門刊載《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）編輯團(tuán)隊(duì)的書評(píng)，解讀商界及其他領(lǐng)域的新書。我們每周都會(huì)選登一篇新的評(píng)論。本文作者勞倫斯?A?阿莫爾是《時(shí)代》（Time）、《財(cái)富》、《理財(cái)》（Money）和《體育畫報(bào)》（Sports Illustrated）等雜志個(gè)性化內(nèi)容的副主編。

????譯者：任文科

????In a look-back piece in our November 12, 2001 issue, Fortune's David Whitford put it this way: "For three decades Land and the brilliant researchers in his Cambridge, Mass. laboratory were consumed with perfecting a trick that even today, in the eyes of techno-weary children and grownups alike, is more than cool -- it's magical."

????Land, a driven manager and a stickler for quality, was there at every step, demanding more and more from the engineers, scientists and chemists who joined the team. He was always a visionary. In 1970 he discussed the camera of the future, describing it as "something that was always with you," a device that you would simply take out of your pocket, point, and shoot.

????Land was also the ultimate salesman. At Polaroid's annual meetings he would move to the center of an empty stage, wave to the musicians who were backing his performance, and put the company's latest products through their paces. If any of this sounds familiar, it's no coincidence. Steve Jobs, another college dropout who built a company that resembles Polaroid in many respects, often described Edwin Land as a role model and hero.

????Not everyone believed in Polaroid. Its biggest critics were on Wall Street, which had a hard time buying Polaroid's lofty valuations during the 1970s, when the shares sold for 90 times earnings. Eventually the skeptics were proven right. Polavision, the company's entry into the motion picture business, got clobbered by video. Land retired. New CEOs and new products appeared, but Pronto!, OneShot, Spectra, and the other plastic-heavy Polaroids that rolled off the assembly line bore little if any resemblance to the classy leather-and-metal SX-70.

????The picture was further muddied in 1976 when Kodak introduced its own line of instant cameras and film. In 1990 Polaroid was awarded $909 million in the biggest patent-infringement judgment in history, but it was much too little and much too late. By then one-hour photo labs had arrived on the scene, followed by the ultimate game-changer: digital photography.

????Deep in debt and lacking the firepower needed to compete in digital, Polaroid filed for bankruptcy on October 13, 2001, a month after the September 11 attacks. The company has since been sold and resold several times, including one sale to a Minneapolis company that was interested in its real estate, art collection, and name. After the head of that firm was sentenced to 50 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme, Polaroid filed for a second bankruptcy.

????The company's last few years are covered in a slim chapter at the end of the book, along with a look at the Impossible FPU (for film processing unit), the latest in a long line of products to carry the Polaroid name. According to Bonanos, the current owner of the Polaroid label "doesn't know much about Edwin Land." And that, in a nutshell, says it all.

????Our Weekly read column features Fortune staffers' and contributors' takes on recently published books about the business world and beyond. We've invited the entire Fortune family -- from our writers and editors to our photo editors and designers -- to weigh in on books of their choosing based on their individual tastes or curiosities. Lawrence A. Armour is deputy editor of custom content for Fortune, Time, Money, and Sports Illustrated.