

Kodak Teeters on the Brink - smilliken
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203471004577140841495542810.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

======
walru
If only there was some legislation put into place long ago, that would have
banned the usage of digital photography, so Kodak wouldn't be in this
situation today.

------
gerggerg
As much as I actually respect Kodak, absolutely love a lot of their products
and will miss the film, this made me happy:

 _"The company's problems came to a head in 2011, as Mr. Perez's strategy of
using patent lawsuits and licensing deals to raise cash ran dry."_

~~~
kokey
The bankruptcy rumours surprised me, since I remember reading years ago that
Kodak shut down most of their film business etc. because of the market
changing. I thought they just logically trimmed the business to what was
feasible and they would be small and operate off some royalties and some of
their newer products and perhaps brand licensing, perhaps in a way that Atari
functioned for a while. Seems like they mismanaged this approach.

------
fvryan
I wonder how things could have gone differently for Kodak. Kodak invented the
digital camera, so it's easy in retrospect to say they should have focused
more on digital technology. But film was printing cash and they would have had
to anticipate so many changes. Photography behavior, photo sharing behavior,
personal computing, and now mobile.

~~~
moylan
2 of my first 3 digital cameras were kodak.

a dc2300? a low end 2mp camera. and a palmpix attachment that connected to my
then palm iiix and iiic. both were very good cameras and the lenses were
better than any of the camera phones i had for a few years. the palmpix
especailly for a vga res camera took surprisingly good pics.

i never heard of them trying to put their tech into camera phones. their name
and reputation would have helped shift a few phones. a quick check only turns
up one model a motorola zn5.

they're also sitting on impressive printing technology. there is still a
market for mobile printing for embedded applications. i would love a a5-a6
printer that fitted in my bag to kick out a page every once in a bluemoon.

it would be tragic to see kodak disappear from shops and be nothing but a
brand in some larger company.

~~~
ams6110
I would be surprised if their imaging business didn't survive in some fashion.
Maybe spun off or sold off. Their stuff is quite good.

Heh. Just did a quick search to check something and looks like this has
already happend:
[http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Image_Sensor_Solutions/Kodak_I...](http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Image_Sensor_Solutions/Kodak_Image_Sensor_Solutions.htm)

Edit: So this is fascinating. The one piece of their business where they had
legitimately market-leading tech, they sell off. They must have felt that they
couldn't escape the weight of the failure of all the old business lines.

~~~
stan_rogers
They _were_ ahead of the game, but Dalsa picked up the high end of the market
(Hasselblad and Leaf/PhaseOne) and Sony the low end (Nikon, Pentax -- and
their own cameras, of course) over the past couple of years. It'll cost some
money to leapfrog them, and if the company doesn't have financial room for an
R&D-only business phase...

------
ahi
"...deciding to focus on consumer and commercial printers in the past half-
decade under Chief Executive Antonio Perez." ...

"...the viability of the company's printer strategy has yet to be
demonstrated, raising questions about the fate of the company's 19,000
employees." ...

"Kodak has lost money each year but one since Mr. Perez, who previously headed
the printer business at Hewlett-Packard Co., took over in 2005. The company's
problems came to a head in 2011, as Mr. Perez's strategy of using patent
lawsuits and licensing deals to raise cash ran dry." ...

"Mr. Perez decided to base the company's future on consumer and commercial
inkjet printing. But the saturated market has proved tough to penetrate, and
Kodak is paying heavily to subsidize sales as it builds a base of users for
its ink."

Much like the incompetent Borders CEO, I predict a bankruptcy filing will mean
a couple million dollar retention bonus in this guy's future. Sure, Kodak was
in trouble in 2005, but it still had plenty of options better than printers
and patent trolling.

I love when management of cash strapped companies hire consultants to do their
jobs for them: "Soon after, Kodak hired restructuring lawyers and advisers to
help shore up its finances."

So in the losers column we have shareholders, employees, retirees, taxpayers
(PBGC/Medicare), and the communities of upstate New York. In the winners
column we have the fuckwits responsible.

------
teyc
What's going to happen to all those retirees? There aren't any 401ks to fall
back on are there?

~~~
ars
That what this is for:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pension_Benefit_Guaranty_Corpor...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pension_Benefit_Guaranty_Corporation)

It doesn't cover everything, but it helps a lot.

~~~
nradov
The PBGC provides a nice backstop for workers with certain defined benefit
pension plans but as a matter of public policy it's a terrible idea and ought
to be phased out. The insurance rates it charges are insufficient and so
taxpayers are going to get stuck with a huge liability. Its mere existence
creates a moral hazard by encouraging employers to make promises they can't
keep. The government should encourage a shift to defined contribution plans.

------
samstave
Then they MUST MAKE THIS RIGHT NOW:

<http://re35.net/>

~~~
luke_s
I got really excited for a moment, as I have been looking for something like
this for a long time. Unfortunately it turns out to be an old April fools
joke.

~~~
stan_rogers
It (or, rather, something very like it) was an actual product at one time, but
it needed to be a per-camera product to make it work properly. The 135 format
standard says how big the frames should be and how many sprocket holes per
frame, but not how the frames align with the sprocket holes or exactly how
much distance there should be between the film canister and the lightbox.
Getting the sensor aligned with the lightbox (and the viewfinder) basically
meant a different model for each of the various SLR cameras out there. The
sensor itself was pretty low-rez and had little in the way of dynamic range.
Oh, and since things were so inefficient at the time, you needed to butcher
the camera (drilling a hole in the baseplate) to feed power to the canister-
cum-senor (and, if I recall correctly, to get the data out). It didn't make it
past the "floating a trial balloon" stage in the marketplace.

------
jroseattle
A cautionary tale for the current stable of technology giants:

* Unwillingness to shift the company around a high-margin sacred cow (film).

* Unwillingness to compete with other partners in the chain (digital cameras).

* Expanding into unprofitable areas (printers)

------
minikomi
I hope TriX holds out for at least a few more years!

~~~
dhbanes
Just buy a bunch of it, B&W film lasts a very long time even under average
conditions. It should outlast you if you keep it in the freezer with a few
desiccant packets. Might want to go for the 100' rolls. Defrost before use :)

~~~
minikomi
Yep, on my list to get a bulk loader next time some money rolls in.

~~~
dhbanes
btw, Tri-X was my first thought too after seeing this headline. Glad to see a
few people still have their priorities straight ;)

------
villagefool
Still waiting for the rise of Kodacell...

