civilized ku # 2044 ~ business is war
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 12:34PM ;)
Coast Guard Cutter ~ Inner Harbor - Baltimore, MD • click to embiggenSpeculation is running high, re: the likelihood, in the very near future, of KODAK filing bankruptcy. As a 25 year resident of Rochester, NY ('59-'85), this news, while not exactly unexpected, has an otherworldly / surreal aspect to it for me.
It's difficult for me to come to grips with how this came to pass - the world leader in all things picturing for the better part of a century is going down the drain like exhausted fixer. And, even if KODAK manages to restructure, that process will primarily focus upon continuing what is now considered to be their core business - printing. Not picture making, but picture printing.
In truth, my coming-to-grips difficulty aside, the ultimate reason for this debacle is simple - mismanagement and lack of vision on a spectacular and colossal scale.
KODAK did not face the challenges of the emerging digital era as a cash strapped company. In fact, for decades after they invented the first digital camera in 1975 (and nearly a century before) they were cash rich on an unbelievable scale. In addition to cash, KODAK also had some of the finest and most generously funded corporate R&D facilities and staff on the planet - a part of the reason why KODAK was able to make the first digital camera and introduce the first commercially available DSLR camera in 1991.
However, somehow - someway, KODAK management and, to a certain extent, its shareholders (with a big nudge from Wall Street) found a way to turn shine-ola into shit.
To drive this very point home, almost to the very day on which the KODAK bankruptcy speculation started to emerge, FUJI announced their most recent line up of new digital cameras. FUJI - the same company which in 1975 (the year KODAK invented the first digital camera) was little more than a bit player (relative to KODAK) in the world picture making market. FUJI - the same company which in the early '80s, thanks to another management screw-up at KODAK, secured the film sponsorship rights for the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and used it as a springboard to go on and grab big chunks of KODAK's share of the film market. FUJI - the same company which continues to innovate and, this week, is about to introduce a photo-"enthusiast", potentially class(mirror-less / interchangeable lens / large sensor)-leading camera - the FUJI X-PRO 1 - while KODAK's camera offerings are little more than me-too, lost-in-the-crowd pablum.
FUJI - the same company which, from a far less cash-rich position, faced all of the same coming-into-the-digital-era challenges which KODAK faced ... and won (Business is War).
The whole business is just sad. Sad on so many levels, re: the current state of economic affairs here in the good 'ol USofA. The sad true is simple - despite the Faux News / right wing trumpeting of "American Exceptionalism", the good ol' USofA , except when it comes to bombing the crap out of much lesser countries and worshiping at the altar of consumerism, is sliding down the path to also-ran status.
Reader Comments (1)
I see no one has commented on this entry. I have not until now because it is a frustratingly sore spot. I posted a small entry about a year ago, and the situation has only continued to get worse. It is almost surreal that this could happen. Being a resident of Rochester this hits home on several levels but interestingly with all the lay-offs from Kodak and Xerox (my former employer) our unemployment rate is better than any other city in New York.