this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 66 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

This is like Kodak inventing the digital camera and then sitting on it for the next 20 years. Because it doesn't use film. And Kodak is film.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (9 children)

This is not entirely fair, Kodak invested a lot in digital photography, I personally bought a $1500 Kodak digital camera around 2002.
But Kodak could not compete with Canon and other Japanese makers.

To claim Kodak could have made more successful cameras earlier, is ignoring the fact that the technology to make the sensors simply wasn't good enough early on, and would never have been an instant hit for whoever came first to market. Early cameras lacked badly in light sensitivity dynamics and sharpness/resolution. This was due to limitations in even world leading CMOS production capabilities back then, it simply wasn't good enough, and to claim Kodak should have had the capability to leapfrog everybody doesn't make it true.

To claim Kodak could have beat for instance Canon and Sony, is ignoring the fact that those were companies with way more experience in the technologies required to refine digital photography.

Even with the advantage of hindsight, I don't really see a path that would have rescued Kodak. Just like typesetting is dead, and there is no obvious path how a typesetting company could have survived.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Kodak isn't dead they're just not dominating the imagining industry any more. They even multiplied, there's now Kodak Alaris in addition to the original Kodak.

Between them they still are dominating analogue film which still has its uses and it could even be said that if they hadn't tried to get into digital they might've averted bankruptcy.

There's also horse breeders around which survived the invention of the automobile, and probably also a couple that didn't because their investments into car manufacturing didn't pan out. Sometimes it's best to stick to what you know while accepting that the market will shrink. Last year they raised prices for ordinary photography film because they can't keep up with demand, their left-over factories are running 24/7.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

as a former TKO on the Nexpress series, don’t sleep on Kodak’s presence in the commercial print manufacturing industry either. would love to still be on the shop floor to have an opportunity to run the Prosper inkjet web press.

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