“I don’t want to keep dinosaurs alive. I want to inspire young people to combine old technologies with new technologies. If you stop understanding the past you will not find the answers for the future. And this is the big problem with digital.”
Florian Doc Kaps: is a champion of all things analogue, an out of the box thinker who believes that people are too swamped with digital things in our lives. He believes that we should on our five senses to make decisions about business, love, family and friends.
Former biologist who was a foremost authority on spider eye movement (I didn’t know that was a thing until I met Doc), he is also the entrepreneur who literally saved Polaroid instant photography from extinction.
Do you know those big, instant cameras that make a loud click when you take a snapshot? It spits out an undeveloped photograph into your hand? Doc saved that.
In 2008 the company that owned that instant film, Polaroid, was planning to shut down the last factory where it was made. Boom. The End. No more Polaroid. The end of instant photography as we knew it.
Then along came Doc. He literally bought the Polaroid factory before they shut it down forever. He calls his arduous journey An Impossible Project They made a film about it, too. If you own one of those vintage cameras or see an instant photo on a refrigerator you can thank Doc.
My Tools For Nomads episode with Doc Kaps explores how he saved Polaroid from extinction. We went deep into the mind of Doc and talked about the importance of analogue in our lives, about the lost art of daydreaming, his experience-store called Supersense, and what it was like growing up in Vienna, birthplace of Mozart, Beethoven and Freud.
You’ll love Doc Kaps just as I do.
Listen and be inspired!
“I don’t want to keep dinosaurs alive. I want to inspire young people to combine old technologies with new technologies. If you stop understanding the past you will not find the answers for the future. And this is the big problem with digital.”
Florian Doc Kaps: is a champion of all things analogue, an out of the box thinker who believes that people are too swamped with digital things in our lives. He believes that we should on our five senses to make decisions about business, love, family and friends.
Former biologist who was a foremost authority on spider eye movement (I didn’t know that was a thing until I met Doc), he is also the entrepreneur who literally saved Polaroid instant photography from extinction.
Do you know those big, instant cameras that make a loud click when you take a snapshot? It spits out an undeveloped photograph into your hand? Doc saved that.
In 2008 the company that owned that instant film, Polaroid, was planning to shut down the last factory where it was made. Boom. The End. No more Polaroid. The end of instant photography as we knew it.
Then along came Doc. He literally bought the Polaroid factory before they shut it down forever. He calls his arduous journey An Impossible Project They made a film about it, too. If you own one of those vintage cameras or see an instant photo on a refrigerator you can thank Doc.
My Tools For Nomads episode with Doc Kaps explores how he saved Polaroid from extinction. We went deep into the mind of Doc and talked about the importance of analogue in our lives, about the lost art of daydreaming, his experience-store called Supersense, and what it was like growing up in Vienna, birthplace of Mozart, Beethoven and Freud.
You’ll love Doc Kaps just as I do.
Listen and be inspired!
Following is a conversation with Florian Doc Kaps, entrepreneur, out of the box thinker, creator, dreamer and known as the man who saved Polaroid. A documentary about Doc called an impossible project premieres in his hometown of Vienna, Austria at the end of this month where I spoke to him from his home. Tools for Nomads would not be possible without Topdrawer. Topdrawer's mission is to make durable, sustainable tools for creatives who work to make the world better. I fell in love with the topdrawer brand when they invited me to do a presentation for them in 2017 at their annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, top drawer makes tools for travel writing accessories for everyday carry. They designed and made the travel bag that they gave me. It goes on every single trip with me everything I need fits inside. I love it. From pens to Japanese how shoes to journals, amazing photo albums, finely crafted paper bags, I wear handkerchiefs lighters, key chains are amazing. Check them out at top drawer shop.com or visit one of their dozen plus meticulously outfitted shops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Berkeley, Chicago, and Tokyo. Top door shop.com. I'm Thom Pollard. From early on, I wanted to squeeze as much as I could from life by looking for adventure all over the world. To be honest, I got to charge that it freaked my mother out so much the things that I was doing. But until the day she passed, she still bragged that her son had survived to avalanches, and one time stowed away on a container ship on the South Pacific. As a documentary filmmaker, I basically became a professional adventurer. That was the plan at least to get paid to go and do the stuff that I lay awake thinking about and planning every minute of my life. For expeditions to Mount Everest included. All these adventures were really a way for me to meet fascinating and passionate people. These people are everywhere you go in small villages in remote corners of Nepal, bustling cities in Bolivia, and sometimes right next door. I'm insanely curious about what makes people tick. In tools for nomads, you'll meet some of those people nomads like me, who are driven by creativity, and for a passion to reveal the answers to life's big questions.
Now for my guest:the inimitable and inspiring Florian Doc Kaps, the subject of a 2020 documentary called An impossible Project, which will finally be premiering post pandemic in his hometown of Vienna at the end of March 2022. And it streams online to the title of the film says it all an impossible project. But for doc, that's just a challenge to get him started. He's the founder of a company called Super sense a unique all analog concept store, and manufactory, which is what they call it located at a crazy Venetian Palazzo in the heart of Vienna. Rooms are dedicated to each sense featuring analog products such as a machine that literally cuts a vinyl record of your voice in front of you as you sing in tune or otherwise. A smell memory kit literally where you can carry a smell around your neck and an amulet. Doc says rightly so that humans are analog were engulfed and literally sickened by the deluge of digital products. And people are yearning for real things and authenticity. The film about Doc is really about the revenge of analog with the eccentric, crazy Austrian scientist doc who saved the world's last Polaroid factory. Incidentally, just as Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone, I watched Doc's TEDx talk in Munich called trust your senses and learned he at one time was the leading scientist in the world of spider eye muscles. Seriously spider eye muscles, if you're going to be the best at something you want to stand out. So if you have any questions about spider eye muscles, make sure you send them in and I'll get them right to Doc. my conversation with Doc explores how he saved Polaroid film. from extinction, here's my conversation with Florian doc caps, from his home in Vienna, from February 2020. To dark, thank you, I know how busy you are, you are busy. And as if you don't have enough, when things are going well, but now the COVID thing and the pandemic must be, like slamming you. So the fact that you're taking time out of your day to just talk to me on this Zoom meeting is, is really cool. And I appreciate it. Thank you.
Doc Kaps:You're welcome. And it's a big honor to be here.
Thom Pollard:Well, I feel the same and doubly blessed. And, you know, before I knew who you were, you know, kind of pulled back the layers, and I found your TEDx talk that you did in Munich, I was fascinated by all the work you did. And, and the one thing that I loved is that you grew up in a really supportive home, you know, your mom, and you talk about being loved and, and feeling valued and respected. And it seems like a lot of really successful people in this world have the opposite, like some traumatic event, my father beat me or something, you know, or my mother left us when I was three and left, you know, I was raised by wolves, and you had a supportive childhood, and I'd be just curious to know what your childhood was, like, how you became the legend that you are, if you could just tell me a little bit about it.
Doc Kaps:You know, I grew up in Vienna, which, for many, many years, now, it seemed to be a very boring city, compared to all the other capitals of the world that I love to travel and visit. But surprisingly, you know, what I had to find out through all these adventures and businesses all over the world is that somehow, the Enter is a very special and very analog city, basically, a city which is made, you know, also had a big influence of, of my, my thinking, and also, you know, maybe the reaction of, to digital, to the digital revolution, because in Vienna, everybody's super stubborn, you know, if there is a new trend, something new coming, you know, we say, Hey, wait and see, you know, I'm not changing my behavior. You know, it's, it's a very, very special city. And I grew up in that city, very traditional, with my mom and my father, and maybe with with a crazy combination, because in my father is a bookkeeper, he's, you know, very into numbers, and not at all creative is very structured, you know, puts everything in little, in little, you know, notes and, you know, on paper, and my, my mother is, is a painter, and she, you know, she teaches art through, she's very creative, and the total opposite of my father. And somehow I think I ended up as a combination of being, you know, very creative in some ways, but still, you know, numbers and structures. And, and the question is, you know, can I make a business out of dreams, this is still a fascinating thing for me, I never wanted to do art, I wanted to do creative business, but do something, you know, try to be, you know, to connect, creative free thinking was struck as numbers. So maybe this is, you know, what, what, what defines of who I am from back in the days, and at the same time, I don't think my parents get what I'm doing. So it's, you know, it's still a big struggle, and there is a film coming out now, you know, called an impossible project, which is a documentary of my life. And I, I brought my parents to the, to the premiere in Rotterdam. And I said, Okay, finally, they watch the film, and they will understand what I'm doing. Because, you know, and it was a little bit of a disappointment because my father fell asleep after 15 minutes. That, you know, then he, at the end of the movie said, this movie, you know, didn't make any sense, but nobody there to tell him that he was asleep for 15 minutes, and that maybe had an impact of not understanding the plot, anyhow. Very funny. That's awesome. But I think somehow, you know, that's always the problem with parents and kids and doing things differently and, and stuff. So, I grew up here, I you know, I I I have a viable kind of family or sorry, maybe? Yeah, my family here, raised in Vienna, and I really had, you know, a very protected very traditional childhood. I have a sister, which is she's four years older than me, she's a teacher, there's a lot of teachers in our family anyhow, I don't know, is really scary, a little bit. But otherwise, yeah, I was always fascinated to do things nobody else is doing. And I was always fascinated to understand nature. And that's why I started to study biology to understand the principle mechanisms of what makes us feel good, you know, how is it all connected? Because at the end of the day, you know, we are just human beings. And, you know, we shouldn't see things too complicated. It's about you know, being happy eating, drinking, sex. Creating next generations, let's put it that way. And, you know, ideally, leave this planet a little bit better than we be founded. And that's all all the other things are, you know, just vibrations that that shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Thom Pollard:Yeah, you well, that right on, I you know, if people could just have that be part of what makes them function and get out of bed in the day just to be, you know, you you have even said it in that TEDx talk. And I've spoken to you numerous times, since watching that for the first time, you talked about faith, love, hope. And one of the things you say is if we could just learn to trust our own senses, like you, I love what you say, go don't listen to a word, I say, don't trust me, take, don't take my word for it, go and trust your own self. And, and, and the things that you love, fight hard for him, and we're going to be fine. But people are in this, maybe this is our good way to kind of launch off into super scents and Polaroid and things. But you say you can't fall in love. If you don't smell
Doc Kaps:because you know, you, you need all your senses, in order to really trust somebody and your sense warn you that, you know, the complexity and the potential of our five senses. That's the only reason why we're still sitting here on this planet. Because they want to stay, you know, the bitterness says, okay, scary. This, you shouldn't eat that. And you know, this is warm, it's just called this, don't trust this guy, you know, and this is the problem on the digital that, you know, the last we are not in reality. So we don't know whom to trust. And I think without trust, oh, it's gonna be very hard to find the solutions for our future.
Thom Pollard:Hmm. Well, Doc, let's talk about some of your projects. And in your, you know, some of the talks, I've listened to interviews with you, I've spoken to you. Let's get to the heart of some of the coolest things that you've done. And going back, I'm not sure it's got to be at least 10 years or so you ended up signing an agreement with Polaroid, I believe to be the sole distributor of the film that they were making for their Can I call them instant cameras, is that the way to put it? And then there was a shift and they kind of tell me how you got in to this amazing thing about you know, to be the man who saved Polaroid?
Doc Kaps:No, the deal was that, you know, I went to them and said, okay, there is something about there is a magic for your, your Polaroid films, you know, even if the world goes digital, you know, there is something there, you know, it pops up all over the world. Adidas original is just shooting a campaign on this material. It's, it's, there's something so and I tried to convince them to, you know, think about new ways to win new customers. And I had this crazy idea to open an online shop for Polaroid film, because it was hard and hard to get the film at the retail. And they said, Oh, that's nice idea. We don't know if the internet shop is really a big thing. But you know, the problem is we lost faith because there is no future for Polaroid film. So we are not investing in in this material anymore. We keep it alive. But you know, we invest in digital, but if you really believe in that, yeah, you can become, you know, our, you can get the rights to sell the film, globally across all regions online, because nobody else is anyhow interested in doing it. So you just have to guarantee us a minimum purchase of 180,000 Euro. And I said, Oh my god, I only have 180,000 Euro. And they say, so you don't believe in your own ideas. And I said, Of course I do. You know, but So anyhow, I went back to my grandmother, and everybody and I collected the money started, started the online business without having sold one single piece of film before. And so it was crazy. But we were lucky because, you know, a small company called Google by that day, they introduced their search machine. And so every body every every, every guy, every girl who wanted, you found the Polaroid camera on the flea market, and wanted to have film for the camera, he first went to the shop didn't get it, second shop didn't get it. So they, they went to went online, put it in Google, and they found us. So within, you know, a couple of years, we had more than 40,000 customers from all over the world. You know, buy Polaroid film. So it was a really cool business. And we specialize them expired for films. And we had a lot of fun until the day in 2008 when Polaroid called me and said, Hey, Doc, incredible what you did, you know, thanks for the good time, but we're closing the last factory. So this is the end the purity. What the fuck? You know, we just started, you know, my business just started I put it out on customers. Oh my gosh. So that's that's, I didn't even think about it. When we had the chance to buy the factory, it was a no brainer, because we had the customers we needed. We needed the film. It's, you know. So that's how it all started.
Thom Pollard:You're listening to my interview with Florian Doc Kaps, entrepreneur from Vienna, and subject of a new documentary called an impossible project about his quest to save Polaroid film from extinction. So you so so they're like, hey, good jobs, gaming, first of all 40,000 customers is a lot. I mean, well, maybe not for Facebook. But you know, for what you did? And you it seems like it?
Doc Kaps:Yeah, it's a lot for for a product that nobody needs any longer. You know, that was that was the mindset, there is no reason because digital photography is much more instant than instant photography. And it's for free. Or at least that was the people thought back in the days there was absolutely no reason that why this material should exist. Other than you know, my feeling that all something this you know is is this is somehow the digital did something and this is the key message. Everybody was afraid that digital will kill the analog Yeah, but what it turned out the digital because of all the disadvantages, or let's put it that way the limitations of digital they helped so much that the people remember and appreciate the the the analog the real things. So the Polaroid was not the quickest or the fastest image anymore but he was the image you can touch image that was at a value image that you cared about. It was you know, it even you can touch it and smell it compared to digital so and it was unpredictable even that was you know, an incredible advantage because digital every all the pictures are perfect look the same. There is no challenge in that. You know, that's like mountain climbing on a on a highway. No.
Thom Pollard:Yeah,
Doc Kaps:not super challenging. Yeah.
Thom Pollard:Driving to the top. Yeah, yeah.
Doc Kaps:So that's, that's what it's all about.
Thom Pollard:So now you buy the factory and you are the man and you know, I know that you didn't do it alone because I don't think people can do things alone I know you had help and partnerships and things like that. But now when there are Polaroid cameras out there essentially that film that goes into them without that would just wouldn't even exist now you and so that is a big part of of what you do. And you know I know you have some other endeavors going on and I did did super sense come before that. Or did that come after? Your Polaroid project
Doc Kaps:No, it's, it's after and you know, what happened is that it the times, and the customers dramatically shifted from this old, nostalgic, romantic guys like myself that have these feelings from back in the days. And that's when we started suddenly, the young generation grew up digitally, they started to discover this analog technologies from a totally different viewpoint. And this was the most fascinating aspect even with my kids, you know, when in 2008, when I, I, I gave them the first Polaroid camera. It was they didn't know what to do because they wanted an iPhone. Everybody got an iPhone? 2008. Yeah, so only three years later, the the Polaroid camera was much cooler than boring iPhone. Yeah. And, and I said, I want to create a space in Vienna, where we bring together all this analog technologies, forward is still an important aspect of that. So I'm, for example, I'm sitting here, next to the biggest Polaroid camera of the world.
Thom Pollard:It's the size of a washing machine. Yeah, it's
Doc Kaps:it makes Polaroids in the size of 70 inches. It's super crazy. So that's not that's real. That's real. Yeah, it makes you know, this huge Polaroids, you pull them out like that. It's, you know, it's gigantic. Wow. And so, and I want, you know, but I wanted to, to do a print shop, I want to a restaurant I want to basically a department for every sense, that's super sense, because this is this is what makes reality different to digital. And one of the main topics and which is, you know, one, our main focus at the moment is, is vinyl records. Because everybody loves vinyl records, but nobody has a clue or not a lot of people have to how they are produced, what is it all about, you know, what is the groove and stuff. And the, the funny thing is that since the 70s, nobody was rethinking or putting any innovation in the, in the process of producing it. So I said, Okay, I have to change this, I have to learn about records, and I want to come up with new new ways, and also combine them with our digital presence. And, you know, think about ways to combine this wonderful medium with the future because this is very important, the same as Polaroid, I don't want to keep dinosaurs alive, I want to, you know, inspire young people in a way that people to combine all technologies with new technologies. This is for me, the main driving of evolution, if you stop, you know, understanding the past, you know, you will not find the answers for the future. And this is a big problem digital, digital pretends to fake that, you know, you don't need any analog things, you know, you can do anything better, easier, smoother, digital, and this this is simply not not true. You know that that's not true.
Thom Pollard:Yeah, that's exactly we become really disconnected from ourselves. And there are, you know, there, there are meditative parts, I suppose, of, you know, playing a game on your iPhone, I, that the the image is hilarious of your, of your kids going to school and everybody, all their buddies have fancy iPhones, they walk you with a Polaroid camera, there's
Doc Kaps:a very, they didn't they didn't think it was very fancy. I can tell you, you know, my main question to them is, you know, with this crisis, you know, I think we all agree, there is no easy way back to normal, but in my understanding, after spending so much time in some conferences and being isolated, I think people should appreciate even more to go out with friends or how important is to travel in real life. When there are other people who said, you know, people will stop doing it because for so long they have, you know, been in a room they, they will never go out again. So, this is a big thing, you know, how people will react to that, you know, that's the digital slowly, you know, take away our senses or our or spirit, you know, we'll be all up having we all end up having sex In front of the screen, or which is or you're even this Metaverse, how can anybody said this is a solution? You know, because let's put on gloves after these masks. Let's put on gloves and let's meet in meters. My, yeah, this is against what I think humans are made for.
Thom Pollard:Yeah, yeah. Right on, I absolutely. Talk, if I could ask you a couple of questions about what are the things that that you keep with you, like, if you were on a going on a trip, you've got this bag, what goes in it, what's the most important things that you bring with you, and, you know, that, that kind of keep you productive, but also inspire you,
Doc Kaps:it's, I think, it's, you know, it's a notebook where I can write, you know, like you said, to write down ideas, to sketch some, some ideas. It's also going to be my iPhone, you know, because I come, I love to take pictures of things that inspire me, and I love to connect and research and, you know, that's, so that's, you know, I love the combination of both of these worlds. And to, to open up to the world, I think, you know, we have to think internationally, and we have to work together. So, I suffer a lot of, you know, that, you know, even in Europe, we cannot really, you know, work together as, as united people, it's, you know, every problem that comes like refugees, whatever, you know, we just, you know, it's just bad, you know, this should be problems that we can easily solve together, but there is no way it still seems to be very hard that we work together as, as a global, you know, as a global united group of people who all live on the planet. And so what I take with me is, is that the iPhone and the notebook and what recharges my batteries is that, you know, be focused on things that inspire people to do some some stuff on their own. So we have somehow specialized tools for creativity. So the most rewarding things for me. And also, I think that's your why I am so closely connected with tools for nomads is when you watch of people staring up this picture, slowly developing, I think keeping it and warming it or using a pencil or listening to record that be produced. And they said, Oh, what's going on? I have goosebumps, you know, it's it's it's products that inspire people or make people feel happy. You know, the biggest the best news for me is this younger generation that, you know, I was afraid that maybe we have lost them to the digital to their iPhones, but it's the other way around. You know, it's incredible. They stand up, they stop eating meat, they questioning industry,
Thom Pollard:I would imagine you probably don't. I can't imagine depression being a part of your life. I'm sure you get, you know, tied up in, you know, when things are really tough. I'm sure you go deep, and to find the resources to fix problems, but I can't imagine you just being a guy who's like, I've been really depressed lately, feeling, you know, that existential thing, it just seems like there's like this purpose, like you, you're, there's a drive in you and I'm what, right? Am I right? Or am I making a presupposition because,
Doc Kaps:you know, it's not that the good thing somehow, you know, some, I have to carry a lot of burden and load on my shoulders. Also financially, because, you know, maybe in 30 years, some of the business ideas will turn into some money. But, you know, I also think that's a good good thing, because, you know, I want in my life, I had a big billionaire, you know, with the famous words so they talk with your ideas and your network and your vision and with my money, we cannot change the world. And what followed was the most complicated period of my life, because we did a lot of shit, you know, because we had too much money in it. To be tight on money helps me at least a lot to focus and to concentrate and to to learn as fast as possible from the mistakes and the direction. So But coming back to your question you know, when when, when when I'm tired and nothing, you know, I I always have my family that I can come can come back to and say, Okay, what should you know, it's business and I may fail, but you know, I have people that I love and you know, take it easy, and then I have a glass of wine and have a good sleep. And then the Morning, you know, I stand up very early usually and have a coffee and suddenly, you know, you know, it's, it's a new day. And let's see, because, you know, it feels like we're doing the right thing and you know, and, and we learn a lot from from our mistakes it, you know, even if I die today and all goes down, you know, nobody's gonna take this away. And that's a good feeling. I think that's
Thom Pollard:people listen to this stuff, maybe just one little been on, you know, in the basket for hope and faith and an expectation for the beautiful things that are potentially
Doc Kaps:Yeah, and you know, this what I hope the most, and also with this impossible project that we did, no matter how crazy was doing, you know, first, like you said, the people trust your senses in order to find the right decisions, the right partners, the people you follow, that's very important, try to do to meet them in reality, you know, don't try behind an avatar or whatever, go out there. And the second thing is, you know, do what you love, follow, you know, your passion. Even if everybody's telling you, you're wrong, you know, follow your dreams, and, you know, do daydreaming, it's worth it. Because you know, you have to try even if you fail, you know, because that's important. If you're, if all of us just do the things that are expected from them, or by the society or advertising. You know, it's a boring world. It's, you know, I think we miss out on those things.
Thom Pollard:What's your favorite old photograph? Do you keep a photo of your childhood family dog on your refrigerator, or a picture of you and your brother on a hiking trip framed on your dresser. I'd love to see what your favorite is. Share it with me and maybe I'll include it in our next email blast. My unedited conversation with Doc will be posted on the tools for nomads YouTube channel within a week, and I'll put a link to that in the show notes of this episode. If you enjoy tools for nomads, be sure to subscribe, wherever you listen, give us five stars, and please leave a comment or a review. Better yet, share this episode with someone that you care about. Tools for nomads is brought to you by top drawer, where nomadism isn't just about being on the move. It's about loving and living. Top drawer combines the quality of craftsmanship of our grandparents generation with the drive for independence, function and stylish sustainability. Check out shop drawers shop.com For a look at their incredible tools from around the world or visit one of their dozen plus meticulously outfitted shops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Berkeley, Chicago and Tokyo. Top drawer shop.com. Thanks for visiting tools for nomads. I'll see you real soon.