Digital Pola(d)roids.

I have mentioned fabricated digital Polaroids on previous occasions, as well as applications for their creation (see the digital category for more on this). The current issue of GUP (http://www.gupmagazine.com/ also mentions such images in a short section on 'Poladroids' (http://www.poladroid.net):

Square format, big white borders, and distinguishable colours. there's nothing better than a god old-fashioned Polaroid. what a shame then, that Polaroid has ceased production [...]. with the online poladroid programme you can upload your digital snapshot and turn it into a digital Polaroid in the blink of an eye.... (p9)

And recently I came across the following post bemoaning the quality of such applications, especially 'Poladriods' at http://blurdotblog.com/:

...based on other “Poladroids” I have seen, I have to assume that the people using the application are not all that familiar with the images produced by a real Polaroid instant camera. But that hasn’t stopped over a million and a half people from downloading the application.
(http://blurdotblog.com/?p=1036#comments. Dave Dunn. 15/08/2009)

I have not, as yet, tried any of these applications beyond a cursory curiosity. What would be of interest is to know why such applications are used? What is it that appeals to users? How are such manipulations viewed in comparison to other, similar applications?

Update on 27 08 2009 by S. Cousin

On the 19/08/2009 Dunn followed up on his post about the use of 'Poladroid' to include his viewing of http://www.mylastpolaroid.com/, on which he spotted one such digital creation - and since removed (see the comment by one of the individuals who help maintain the site below the post). Perhaps though, Dunn's most insightful comment concerns the use of the term 'polaroid':

I’m now wondering does the word “polaroid” (not capitalized) for some people mean any photograph that looks like a Polaroid photograph. The same sort of thing has happened the to word “lomo”. For a lot of people, this is a “look” and not a camera manufacturer.
http://blurdotblog.com/?p=1096. Fake Polaroids Continue Unabashed [updated] .Dave Dun).

Which is similar to the use of 'Polaroid' in describing integral photography in general ('a proprietary eponym'), as my comments on the film Yes Man highlight. See: Yes Man (or: the appearance of integral Fuji film).