One of the more popular gadgets at Solid Signal is this P3 International Wireless Solar Animal Chaser. It’s a neat little device that puts out high-frequency sound and causes lights to flash when something moves nearby. Most humans can’t hear the sound but dogs, cats, moles, gophers and most small pests hate it. It’s perfect for protecting your garden from predatory animals in the neighborhood or protecting your open areas from scary little rodents.
Yet, every time I see it, I can’t help thinking of something else.
This is the Polaroid SX-70 instant camera. It was made throughout the 1970s and was incredibly popular in its day. With no smartphones back then, it was the fun and easy way to share pictures with friends. You pushed the button, and a picture popped out. It had a dreamy, blurry quality that professional photographers didn’t care for but interestingly enough, filters that make your new photos look like old Polaroids are very popular on Instagram. This one didn’t need fancy computing to make your pictures look like that.
The SX-70 was also one of the first cameras on the market with available autofocus, which was provided by that huge gold disc in the picture above. Today’s autofocus systems do the same thing but make do with tiny sensors. It also folded down to a “smaller” size, but was still about the size of 2 or 3 Macbooks when it was folded down. We used to be impressed by that.
I can’t help but wondering if the designers of the P3 Solar Animal chaser knew they were creating something that looked like the old Polaroid camera. I admit it doesn’t look exactly the same but the angled top and circular section in the middle really give you that feeling. Maybe if they had included the disco-brown accent colored pieces?
