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Typical case of corporate management being too comfortable being top dog, and failing to keep up with the times and advancing technology. They probably were thinking film would last forever while firms like Canon and Nikon had the foresight to see digital was the wave of the future. This seems somewhat usual in the corporate culture of large firms. Take a look at the number of large companies who, through mismanagement, have had to file bankruptcy or get a bailout loan from the taxpayers. The number is astounding, and Kodak management failed to see the writing on the wall. Same with a lot of other big corporations. Remember the bailout of Chrysler? IIRC they were the first to ask for government assistance. In their day Kodak did well. They simply failed to keep up with the times and changing technology.

I became a convert to digital in the nineties, and I still have my dad's Nikon F that I no longer use. It was, in it's day, one of the cream of the crop. Hip, hip,hooray! No more paying for film processing; just download them to my computer, save the good ones and toss out the junk.

Yep! If Kodak goes totally belly up they will be missed. OTOH, who else can we blame for their failure other than top management?

They got too addicted to the margins they had with being the king of the film world.

Norm wrote: Remember the bailout of Chrysler? IIRC they were the first to ask for government assistance. In their day Kodak did well. They simply failed to keep up with the times and changing technology.

IIRC It was after the bailout of Chrysler, that they developed this ground breaking new vehicle called the mini van... If Kodak really wants to rise from the ashes, they shall need to do the same ground breaking innovation.

I will miss the fidelity of film, but not the processing wait, and charges.

I dont know if a Kodak minivan would sell these days?

amtrak1007 wrote:

Norm wrote: Remember the bailout of Chrysler? IIRC they were the first to ask for government assistance. In their day Kodak did well. They simply failed to keep up with the times and changing technology.

IIRC It was after the bailout of Chrysler, that they developed this ground breaking new vehicle called the mini van... If Kodak really wants to rise from the ashes, they shall need to do the same ground breaking innovation.

I will miss the fidelity of film, but not the processing wait, and charges.

With other companies already having a pretty strong hold on the digital camera market, Kodak would have to truly reinvent the digital camera in order to be successful in the market. Not likely.

It amazes me that such a photography giant doesn't have at LEAST a dozen different point and shoot digicams on the market now. How'd they drop such a HUGE ball???

They even sold a bunch of patents they had which turned a pretty decent profit but not enough to save them. They do have a few digital p&s models out but I think when they went into the digital market it just wasn't enough to keep their head above water. Their profit margins fell 18% in 2005 - OUCH. In the same year though they were No.1 in digital camera sales with $5.7 billion but even with that growth they didn't foresee digital cameras becoming such a commodity product. Commodity product = slim profit margins, as the years have gone by their market share has gone in the crapper.

Remember, Kodak was a film company. They sold cameras to sell film.

It's why the electronics industry is moving so rapidly and we see so many examples like this: If you don't innovate, you're going to be squished like an ant on the sidewalk...remember AOL? Myspace?

MQT3001 wrote:It's why the electronics industry is moving so rapidly and we see so many examples like this: If you don't innovate, you're going to be squished like an ant on the sidewalk...remember AOL? Myspace?

Actually, AOL and Myspace are still around. They just aren't the same type/size of companies they used to be.

conrailmike wrote:

MQT3001 wrote:It's why the electronics industry is moving so rapidly and we see so many examples like this: If you don't innovate, you're going to be squished like an ant on the sidewalk...remember AOL? Myspace?

Actually, AOL and Myspace are still around. They just aren't the same type/size of companies they used to be.

Never said they were gone, just that they missed the boat and suffered he consequences of doing so.

Kodak is coming back right?