(The most venerable name in cameras and film has filed for Chapter 11 protection)
In the summer of 1966, my wonderful Mom took me on a Union Pacific Railroad tour of the great National Parks of the west. I was armed with a Kodak Brownie camera, a simple, boxy device that just happened to take great pictures. I snapped scores of them, in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks. Many were good enough to grace the pages of a calendar, not to brag about my rudimentary skills as a photographer, but to sing the praises of that inexpensive, basic camera that was a staple of my generation and several that went before. Now, Kodak may be going the way of horse-drawn carriages, outpaced by technology.
Eastman-Kodak has announced that it’s filed for protection under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy law, while it tries to reorganize and bring the company back into a competitive position. That’s a tall order in a time when even the cheapest cell phone takes pictures which can be downloaded directly into a computer and printed on photo paper. I’m rooting for Kodak for two reasons: nostalgia and an American bias toward the underdog. But I’m not optimistic.
My childhood memories are saturated with Kodak imagery, from television advertisements to the giant electronic billboard that loomed over the main lobby of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. And the aforementioned Brownie, of course. But that’s my right brain talking. The left cerebral hemisphere, the logical side, tells me this is the way of the world, the law of obsolescence. It remains to be seen whether Kodak can adapt somehow.
A little over a century ago, buggy-making was a major industry. But the automobile was in its early ascendancy, and soon the manufacturers of buggies were faced with two alternatives: go out of business, or revamp their process to make carriages that would sit atop a car chassis. Most had to take the first course, although a few continued to make the horse-drawn variety to appeal to a small, novelty market. Those who chose the second route became pioneers in the automobile industry.
The aptly-named Flint Wagon Works was instrumental in bringing Buick to its hometown in Michigan, as was the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. The biggest early automobile manufacturers in Flint, they helped ensure their former trade would become nearly extinct. But the point is, they adapted. Buick and other big automakers would soon become expansive enough to build engines, chassis’ and over-carriages, but the old buggy-makers profited handsomely from their involvement in the industry that rendered their former business obsolete. Many others of their ilk simply folded. The advance of technology, its influence on consumers, is pitiless.
Recently, Kodak has tried to enter the modern market by putting out a line of printers. I own one myself, a three-in-one printer/scanner with built-in fax capability. It works great, but Kodak’s foray may have been too little, too late. A number of other big companies have been turning out similar products for a long time, and there’s nothing in particular to distinguish Kodak’s printer from theirs, except for maybe the company’s famous name and a price set somewhat lower than its competitors. Not enough, evidently, to save Eastman-Kodak from the bankruptcy courts.
I would love to see Kodak find a way to survive. My gut feeling, though, is that Kodak will wind up being bought and absorbed into one of the more successful big companies – Hewlett-Packard, maybe, or Epson, Panasonic or Toshiba. Then the Kodak name will vanish from all but the happy memories of a simpler time.
There is a line in the ‘Desiderata’ that has stuck with me: “Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.” Where the exponential growth of technology is concerned, the counsel of the years can be harsh and mustering the grace to surrender equably the things of our youth can be difficult. I am truly sorry that Kodak may well turn out to be one of those things.
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This entry was posted on January 20, 2012 at 1:02 pm and is filed under general commentary. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Kodak in bankruptcy, Technology overtakes Kodak, the end of a photographic era
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Eastman-Kodak in Bankruptcy? Technology Strikes Again
(The most venerable name in cameras and film has filed for Chapter 11 protection)
In the summer of 1966, my wonderful Mom took me on a Union Pacific Railroad tour of the great National Parks of the west. I was armed with a Kodak Brownie camera, a simple, boxy device that just happened to take great pictures. I snapped scores of them, in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks. Many were good enough to grace the pages of a calendar, not to brag about my rudimentary skills as a photographer, but to sing the praises of that inexpensive, basic camera that was a staple of my generation and several that went before. Now, Kodak may be going the way of horse-drawn carriages, outpaced by technology.
Eastman-Kodak has announced that it’s filed for protection under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy law, while it tries to reorganize and bring the company back into a competitive position. That’s a tall order in a time when even the cheapest cell phone takes pictures which can be downloaded directly into a computer and printed on photo paper. I’m rooting for Kodak for two reasons: nostalgia and an American bias toward the underdog. But I’m not optimistic.
My childhood memories are saturated with Kodak imagery, from television advertisements to the giant electronic billboard that loomed over the main lobby of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. And the aforementioned Brownie, of course. But that’s my right brain talking. The left cerebral hemisphere, the logical side, tells me this is the way of the world, the law of obsolescence. It remains to be seen whether Kodak can adapt somehow.
A little over a century ago, buggy-making was a major industry. But the automobile was in its early ascendancy, and soon the manufacturers of buggies were faced with two alternatives: go out of business, or revamp their process to make carriages that would sit atop a car chassis. Most had to take the first course, although a few continued to make the horse-drawn variety to appeal to a small, novelty market. Those who chose the second route became pioneers in the automobile industry.
The aptly-named Flint Wagon Works was instrumental in bringing Buick to its hometown in Michigan, as was the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. The biggest early automobile manufacturers in Flint, they helped ensure their former trade would become nearly extinct. But the point is, they adapted. Buick and other big automakers would soon become expansive enough to build engines, chassis’ and over-carriages, but the old buggy-makers profited handsomely from their involvement in the industry that rendered their former business obsolete. Many others of their ilk simply folded. The advance of technology, its influence on consumers, is pitiless.
Recently, Kodak has tried to enter the modern market by putting out a line of printers. I own one myself, a three-in-one printer/scanner with built-in fax capability. It works great, but Kodak’s foray may have been too little, too late. A number of other big companies have been turning out similar products for a long time, and there’s nothing in particular to distinguish Kodak’s printer from theirs, except for maybe the company’s famous name and a price set somewhat lower than its competitors. Not enough, evidently, to save Eastman-Kodak from the bankruptcy courts.
I would love to see Kodak find a way to survive. My gut feeling, though, is that Kodak will wind up being bought and absorbed into one of the more successful big companies – Hewlett-Packard, maybe, or Epson, Panasonic or Toshiba. Then the Kodak name will vanish from all but the happy memories of a simpler time.
There is a line in the ‘Desiderata’ that has stuck with me: “Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.” Where the exponential growth of technology is concerned, the counsel of the years can be harsh and mustering the grace to surrender equably the things of our youth can be difficult. I am truly sorry that Kodak may well turn out to be one of those things.
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This entry was posted on January 20, 2012 at 1:02 pm and is filed under general commentary. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Kodak in bankruptcy, Technology overtakes Kodak, the end of a photographic era
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