Picture This-Eastman Kodak:Could It Be in Its Final Days?!!

[darksurfer]

I have been keeping track of Kodak's seemingly slow demise into possible permanent demise. It's a sickening feeling, especially since I am a photographer.

 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ff974f38-372b-11...z1ibsBTUyv 

This story out of the Financial Times, which is an excellent business publication better than Wall Street Journal I think, indicates that this once mighty titan may be heading first to Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in an effort to save and reorganize what assets it still has. Other sources report either the death of Kodak and most certainly a major restructure.

 http://moneyland.time.com/2012/01/05/repor...ankruptcy/ 
 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...#printMode 

I bet George Eastman must be rolling in his grave over this one. Of course, the name Eastman Kodak Company has been around since 1892.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak 

I don't think there's hardly an American over the age of 15 who hasn't had Kodak in one form or another--whether in the film area, or the camera area, videos.

Remember the Brownie?

Kodak's stock have been taking a tumble on Wall Street, specially over the past year.

I hope this company can make it out of this financial abyss. I know this is a digital camera age, film has and is becoming old hat--due to technological advances, which are good.

But I feel like with Kodak gone, this truly will be a major death in the family?

How about you?
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[xtgold]

I know a photographer that says he almost forgot how to take pictures the old way.
Now he is spoiled,he blasts off hundreds of pics digital at a time,a far cry from the 36 pic limit per roll of film.

[xtgold]

they once had a pond next to the factory so polluted with chemicals they once said if you put in a roll of b&w film it would develop in about 2 weeks just from the pollution.

[Corrine]

darksurfer wrote:

But I feel like with Kodak gone, this truly will be a major death in the family? How about you?

More than you and many others here may have thought! Starting with my grandmother and followed by my parents, aunts, uncles. I was the last in my family to work at Kodak, where I spent 42+ years in various positions in the Legal Department supporting the Patent staff.

What many people don't realize is that Kodak inventions weren't limited to film and cameras. Other inventions included cellulose acetate, polyester, carpet fibers, vitamins, dyes, toners, and more.

I remember one of the attorneys I was working with prosecuting patent applications for "ruminant feed". Come to find out, there were even cows at one of the local Kodak facilities.

One major problem was/is that Kodak was too darn slow to bring those innovations to market. Let's face it, Steve Sasson invented the digital camera in 1975 but it was essentially ignored by the then Kodak management. This is a picture I took at an internal reception honoring Steve's induction to the CES Hall of Fame:



"Kodak Park" was a city within a city with 30 miles of roads and the facilities to maintain them, a bus system, power generation facilities for steam and electricity, sewer system, railroad, fire and medical departments, including ambulances, water treatment facilities.

Before it was outsourced, the Kodak cafeteria was well known for the quality food provided, particularly the separate bakery. The lemon meringue pie was so popular, late comers would hurry to grab the last piece.

xtgold wrote:

they once had a pond next to the factory so polluted with chemicals they once said if you put in a roll of b&w film it would develop in about 2 weeks just from the pollution.

There was no pond in the Kodak Park spaces. Perhaps at a processing facility elsewhere.

Right now, I cannot help but question why it was necessary to delay the decision in the infringement case against Apple and Research in Motion (RIM; Blackberry), expected in December but now delayed until September. The potential $1billion for Kodak would make all the difference in the world. That certainly seems like an excessive amount of time to review testimony & issues.

 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Kodak-patent...63864.html 
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[Corrine]

Although I spent time at Kodak Office and "Elmgrove", most of my career was located in the Research Labs. Taking a bit of a trip down Memory Lane with changes in the view from my office window, both from 2007:

 At Kodak "A Nice Day for a Revolution" 

 Kodak Implodes Building 50 
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[Boz]

It is certainly sad. When I developed my own B&W pictures in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the film, paper, and chemicals I used were almost exclusively Kodak. Up until the time, I stopped using B&W, even the color film I used was almost exclusively Kodak.

Sadly, when I switched exclusively to 35MM color film, I often used Fujifilm, based not only on price, which was almost always cheaper than Kodak, but also on what I perceived to be better quality. I have never used a Kodak camera as my main camera. I used a single great Fujifilm Mini Dual Date P&S for the majority of my 35MM color film picture taking over 15 years. Less than half of the paper used by the various labs I used over that 15 years used Kodak paper, with the majority being Fuji, and some Konica.

When I switched to a digital P&S 8 years ago, I seriously looked at a Kodak camera, but there was no model that had all the features I wanted, and I settled on a Pentax Optio S, which I used for 5 years, and later a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3, which I still use. Now, of the small percentage of pictures I have printed at a labs, about half use Kodak.

Regarding the patent lawsuit, it is a shame that it will take so long to come to a conclusion, but I understand that Polaroid's lawsuit against Kodak regarding instant film/cameras lasted 9 years. But because they didn't react fast enough to technology changes, Polaroid filed for bankruptcy, and is now basically just a name.

I don't know what will happen to Kodak, even if it wins the patent lawsuits. But it is certainly sad that such a huge company with such a long history might be lost.
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[Basementgeek]

Yes, very sad.

I can honestly say I can't remember not having and up running Kodak camera in the house, I am 64. I still have the 2 cameras we had when I was kid. Most of the kodak cameras I own, about 20 of them are only good as "wall hangers" any more i.e. no film available.

I hope all the fine folks that made these great products get what they were promised.

BG
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[Corrine]

BG!!! I didn't realize (or forgot) you are a member here!
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[xtgold]

My first vhs video camera had a switch on it that you could switch to a negative
image,I used to use that to look at loads of b&w negatives while watching on a tv screen to see if the negative was worth printing.That option disappeared fast.

[Deborah]

How sad. My first camera was a Brownie box camera. I was 11 or 12 years old. It opened up a lifetime of joy for me. I still use an old 35 mm Nikon rather than a new digital camera. I do cheat on my cell phone.

[CaptainTripps]

It certainly doesn't look like a Kodak moment.

I purchased an all-in-one printer based on the claim that it saved ink and $'s. I didn't see any savings because the cartridges were smaller and they didn't last like the commercials claimed but the printer worked good.... until after a few months of being 'inkless', I purchased a supply of ink. Everything went smooth for about 50 pages of printed text until one day I turned the printer on and my print job resulted in a blank page. I knew I had ink and did all the maintenance and even installed new cartridges. Still nothing so I contacted support via chat on their website. I told the guy my problem and he said "I can help you fix that". His "fix" was to try to sell me a new print head which with shipping charges would've cost half as much as the entire printer/scanner. I checked online and saw that many, many others had the same printhead problem. Kodak's techs came up with a preventive measure to keep the printhead from failing - don't turn the printer off!! Through numerous emails, I managed to get the price dropped some $8 but still that was too rich for my budget - especially when I saw that sometimes the new printhead was DOA. One other thing, customer service is outsourced to India and the guy wanted my credit card details in an unsecure web chat! Finally I told them to forget it because I was going to purchase another brand. This whole problem came as a surprise to me because I'd put my trust in the name Kodak but my trust was misplaced.

Kodak rested on their past reputation and let the other companies bypass them in technology and when they tried to catch up, they marketed a crappy product. It's really a shame to see that a once great corporation has fallen on such hard times and looks to be doomed.

[darksurfer]

And if Eastman Kodak's possible demise weren't bad enough, another long-term titan in American business may be on the way to extinction: Sears, Roebuck and Company, created in 1883 at about the same time as Kodak, is suffering from declines in revenue, especially since their much-touted merger with Kmart in 2005.

As of December 2011, Sears announced that it would be closing 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores. This was due to poor holiday sales.

 http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/12...s_to_close 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Holdings_Corporation 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears 


Kodak, Sears--these are companies that I have used quite extensively and have, alas, an affection for.

This goes to show that this horrible economy can even bring down the big boys, so it goes.

It's so sad.

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[Boz]

In Kodak's case, it wasn't the economy. Kodak failed to adapt. As mentioned above, Kodak had the first working digital camera, but failed to understand its potential.

The Sears/Kmart problems might be partly due to the overall economy, but they have failed to keep their store facilities updated in comparison to Target and Walmart stores, and often Sears/Kmart prices for the same or similar products are higher than other stores.
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[bruce bailey]

Kodak will continue to operate but will owned by some outfit from China. That way they can fight the green box Fuji from Japan with the well known red and yellow Kodak logo.

[darksurfer]

bruce bailey wrote:

Kodak will continue to operate but will owned by some outfit from China. That way they can fight the green box Fuji from Japan with the well known red and yellow Kodak logo.

So much for American made products. It would just be par for the course if China or India bought Kodak, but I wouldn't be too surprised.

So many American companies are operating out of these countries, thanks to the terrible trade policies, starting with Reagan and ending with King George the W-Bush.

I would be better off buying Fuji instead of Kodak if the Chinese or Indian shuffle took over. This kind of madness has gotta stop, don't you think.
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[Corrine]

Oh, sure, darksurfer. Now you have to mention Sears. I have an even older family connection to Sears! Although it was long before my time, at one time, if anyone purchased baby chickens from Sears catalog, they came from my family's poultry farm.
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[darksurfer]

So sorry to hurt you, Corrine. But I am just the messenger of both good and bad tidings.

As for Kodak, I think this pretty much says it all--at least logo-wise.



But alas, even if Kodak has to resort to Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it might be able to emerge as a printing company but as for the photography, that's another matter.



 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-kodak...2012-01-05 

I guess their motto: "You push the button, we do the rest" could be turned to "We pushed the digital button, you just kill us" might ironically be more, unfortunately, but just think Polaroid came out of their funk after Chapter 11--twice.

 http://www.ira.com/eastman-kodaks-moment-now 

So, there's always hope--even for Kodak and Sears.
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[Boz]

darksurfer wrote:

but just think Polaroid came out of their funk after Chapter 11--twice.

Sort of, but not really. Like I said, the original Polaroid is gone. What remains is a new company trying to capitalize on the name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_Corporation  wrote:

On October 11, 2001, Polaroid Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Almost all the company's assets (including the "Polaroid" name itself) were sold to a subsidiary of Bank One. They went on to form a new company, which also operates under the name "Polaroid Corporation".[3] It stopped making Polaroid cameras in 2007 and stopped selling Polaroid film after 2009, to the consternation of many users.[4][5] The renamed "old" Polaroid now exists solely as an administrative shell.[6] Its bankruptcy was widely believed to be the result of the failure of its senior management to anticipate the effect of digital cameras on its film business. On December 18, 2008, the post-reorganization Polaroid Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota. The bankruptcy filing came shortly after the criminal investigation of its parent company, Petters Group Worldwide, and the parent company founder, Tom Petters.[7] On January 5, 2010, Polaroid partnered with Lady Gaga, appointing her as Creative Director for the company. A press release stated that she would be the "new face" of Polaroid.[8] Since March 2010, instant film materials for Vintage Polaroid cameras have again become available on the market, developed and manufactured by a group called The Impossible Project, at the former Polaroid production plant in Enschede, The Netherlands.

This could be what happens to Kodak, as alluded to by Bruce.
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[darksurfer]

Boz wrote:

[..] Sort of, but not really. Like I said, the original Polaroid is gone. What remains is a new company trying to capitalize on the name.[..] This could be what happens to Kodak, as alluded to by Bruce.

Well, Boz, I suppose that this would be better than having no Kodak at all.
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[Corrine]

 Kodak realigns business structure; sues Apple, HTC - BostonHerald.com 

Quote:

As of Jan. 1, Kodak said, it has two business units — commercial and consumer — instead of three. Both will report to a new chief operating office that is led jointly by Philip Faraci and Laura Quatela, who also both serve as president. ... The lawsuits, filed in federal court in Rochester, claim that some of Apple’s iPhones, iPads and iPods and HTC’s smartphones and tablet devices infringe Kodak patents related to transmitting images. Kodak also lodged complaints against the companies before the U.S. International Trade Commission, in Washington, D.C., which can order federal officials to block imports of products made with contested technology.

I worked with Laura Quatela. She is tough.
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