The First Kodak Digital Camera
 

The New York Times' 'Lens' blog has a decent story concerning Kodak's first digital camera, circa 1973.

Attachment 52978

Kodak's First Digital Moment

Never forget why so many thousands of American jobs were lost. Kodak was dominated by business school graduates. A digital camera would compete with their primary business - film. Rather than innovate and therefore advance mankind, these business school graduates stifled that innovation. Digital cameras were provided by more patriotic companies such as Sony, Canon, and Olympus decades later.

Who got the jobs? Patriotic Americans (with Japanese citizenship) because only they would do what defines a patriotic American - innovate. Kodak was only interested in cost controls and other lies taught in the business schools.

After film went away, one would think they learned from their mistake and innovate. Instead, Kodak went whole hog into printers. Business school graduates refused to do 3D printing; instead decided to buy into and become experts on obsolete technology - 2D printers. Since Wall Street is also full of these anti-American (anti-innovation) types, then Wall Street gleefully invested in Kodak - dominated by people who hate innovation due to a spread sheet mentality. Wall Street also promoted a reduction of the American standards of living.

Digital camera demonstrates how Kodak could have learned from their mistake. Those mistakes cannot be learned on any spread sheet. So thousands of American jobs were lost.

We had some Kodak processors in our lab. Service tech comes in, not long after a new CEO took over at EK and says "things are changing and not for the better". Turns out, in his "hi, i'm the new guy" letter to the employees, the words "shareholder satisfaction" (or something to that effect) figured prominently. Within a year or so, major layoffs, selling of of business units etc had begun. Heard a rumor from a former EK person that when the CEO hired in, if he got the stock price up to X he could cash out (which he did, and he did). They could have ruled the digital world and look at them now.

He did exactly what is taught in business schools. Product is irrelevant. Only profit matter. So he stifled innovation. blamed employees, cut costs, and enriched the Central Committee of the Communist Party - Kodak top management.

Most of us are brainwashed by business schools - foolishly believe the purpose of a company is profits. Companies that prosper and therefore have profits ignore the profits and concentrate only on what matters - the product. Kodak instead went communist.