Kodak Bankruptcy

I still remember the smell of fresh film from the canister, a strangely pleasant chemical odor – twenty-four to thirty-six life-capturing exposures of “I wonder what that will look like after I have it developed”. As you may already know, Eastman Kodak, the company that invented photographic film, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Founded in 1880 by George Eastman, the company had flourished and even dominated the market for most of the 20th century. Before the luminary revolutionized the world, taking a picture was a complicated process involving glass plates, a multitude of chemicals, and awkwardly huge cameras. When he introduced the first Kodak camera in 1888, he coined the slogan, “you press the button, we do the rest,” and the rest is history. I can’t imagine George would have been too happy to see his empire slowly corrode as competitors bashed away at his drawbridge door. First it was FujiFilm, Kodak’s first true competitor, that stripped away sales with cheaper products – then came the real nail in Eastman Kodak Company’s coffin – the rise and subsequent victory of consumer digital imaging over traditional film-based formats. Kodak couldn’t change in time to save themselves. In 2003, they announced that they would no longer be investing in their trademark product. After that, the company shifted focus to digital cameras but never got a foothold in the market. Thursday, February 9th, the company announced that it will stop making digital cameras altogether. CEO Antonio M. Perez, who joined the company from Hewlett-Packard, instead seems focused on turning the company around by betting it all on inkjet printers, but so far, they’ve yet to see success. I have to wonder that if they had hired an ex-Nokia employee as their chief executive, we’d be seeing commercials for Kodak smartphones. As investors, vendors, and everyone else tied to the failing business seem to be jumping ship, it seems like the venerable giant has no where to go but down the spiraling, slippery slope of obscurity. A sad end indeed for the the company who brought photography to the mainstream.