Did Polaroid kill the perfect digital instant camera?

On October 22, 1979, during the dawn of early digital still camera prototypes, Irving Erlichman filed a patent for a "a hand-held, self-processing, electronic imaging camera" whose features, capabilities and sheer daring of concept went far beyond anyone else's envisioned camera, not only then, but perhaps even now. No, Erlichman wasn't a young geek off his rocker, but one of a small group of brilliant inventors working for Dr. Edwin H. Land, and the patent was indeed assigned to the Polaroid Corporation.

What combination of features could deserve such accolades? Picture a digital camera with integral printer producing as many 3 x 3 inch color prints of the same image, either immediately, or if you chose, at any later time, thanks to an interchangeable memory. Each picture snapped would first appear on a viewing panel to be examined, printed, duplicated, filed or destroyed. If you'd rather not take time even to look at the pictures snapped, you could bypass all of them and do your editing and or duplicating later.