I am speechless. It kind of feels like I’ve been kicked in the gut. Polaroid is stopping production of all its film. No more Polaroid film.

When Polaroid users pulled a picture out of their cameras, an image would slowly appear before their eyes. Now, like the process in reverse, the image of the Polaroid instant camera — dimming for years — has finally gone black.

Polaroid, based in Waltham, Mass., is shutting down factories in the United States and abroad as the company abandons the technology that made the instant photo possible, the Boston Globe reported yesterday. The company will cease production of its film by next year.

The artsy, instantly gratifying Polaroid images, reeking of processing chemicals, have finally been done in by endless Flickr Web pages full of digital images, flawlessly produced by cameras that do not require film, emulsion or anything bigger than a shirt pocket to carry them around.

I don’t know what to do. How can I amass a 60-year supply of Polaroid film within the next year?

I take exception to blaming Flickr for the demise of Polaroid. If anything, I think Polaroid’s had a revival from Flickr; the site even hosts an annual ‘Roid Week in honor of the film.

This is an insane idea: could there be a grassroots movement to save Polaroids? Is that as futile as saving 8-track production? To me, this feels like the first time the grasp of technology has killed something I love. I’m being way melodramatic right now.

SavePolaroids.com is available. Just sayin’.