When I was a kid I had a gameboy camera and a gameboy printer.
It was basically a low-res instagram/polaroid hybrid.
Take a selfie (the camera rotated, pretty revolutionary at the time), add borders and effects in-software, print out a instant photo.
It was sort of like an instant portable photobooth, what with the borders and frames and decals and so on.
It felt pretty magical when I was young. As an older person it feels as if it's a niche that could probably still be filled profitably by someone with the right stuff and marketing.
> As an older person it feels as if it's a niche that could probably still be filled profitably by someone with the right stuff and marketing.
I mean, there is - it's Instax [1] from FUJIFILM. Basically a polaroid instant camera on steroids. At least here in Germany, I see some kids running around with it. I think it also features an App, where you can set filters and anything, and print it from your phone on a portable printer, which would tick another item on your list.
Yeah, I know, but I don't think that product category is very profitable, and they fill a wholly different role. They're marketed towards scrap-bookers and mobile professionals, and they aren't usually very cheap.
What I meant is that I think there is a profitable idea there exploiting the concept as a fun toy for younger people.
I know a ton of people that'd be psyched at the prospect of printing out their selfies as stickers from their phone or a very mobile phone-like device.
It's funny that you say cheap, when I remember the printer being about $99 (in late 90s dollars!) which was close to the price of a Game Boy (color) as well. In all my years of school and daycare I remember seeing exactly one kid with one, and even then it wasn't used for photos since no one had a camera. We ended up just printing Pokemon sprites.
6 AA batteries was also an extremely luxurious allotment...
It was basically a low-res instagram/polaroid hybrid.
Take a selfie (the camera rotated, pretty revolutionary at the time), add borders and effects in-software, print out a instant photo.
It was sort of like an instant portable photobooth, what with the borders and frames and decals and so on.
It felt pretty magical when I was young. As an older person it feels as if it's a niche that could probably still be filled profitably by someone with the right stuff and marketing.