NEW YORK — Described as the Apple of its time, the Polaroid company gave the world instant photography. It was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1937 by Edwin Land, who hit upon the notion of using a polarizing filter in cameras to cut down on light glare, an invention that produced photographs that did not require a darkroom and fully developed in mere minutes. Land called these filters Polaroids, and later, the public applied the name to the photographs themselves. Even after the advent of 35mm film, which produced crisper and higher-quality images, Polaroid fans preferred the instant film’s speedy results and distinctive look. After Polaroid phased out its early peel-apart instant films, users no longer needed to shake the image to help it dry faster, but the ritual lived on because it was fun.