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> but I don’t think anyone could have saved say, Kodak Why not? What if Kodak management had went hard on digital initially instead of clinging to film for so

> but I don’t think anyone could have saved say, Kodak Why not? What if Kodak management had went hard on digital initially instead of clinging to film for so long?

throwawayjava 9y ago
Then they would've softened their blow and perhaps delayed their relative demise until the rise of smartphones. But I do think it's fair to say that the transition was going to be a bloodbath of layoffs and declining revenue in any case.
- nwah1 9y ago
  Someone has to make the cameras in the phones. That plausibly could've been Kodak, in an alternate reality.
  - throwawayjava 9y ago
    There still would've been a bloodbath because chemical engineers aren't EEs/SEs. All the Kodak scientists/engineers/factory workers who were designing and making film would not have immediately pivoted to digital camera design and software development. The "camera design" portion of kodak isn't where the primary bloodbath happened. The bloodbath happened when film died. In other words, kodak the company may have thrived, but only by shedding huge portions of its workforce and retooling. I guess if all you care about is stock value, then sure, Kodak could've pulled it off. But for the folks on the ground, the bloodbath would've happened either way.
TorKlingberg 9y ago
Kodak was never an electronics company, or even a camera company. Nikon and Canon would have eaten their lunch.
- TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
  Kodak literally invented the digital camera, and were significant in both consumer and professional digital photography in the early 00s. They missed by not innovating fast enough compared to the competition, not by ignoring the market. Unimaginative management was very definitely a problem - although to be fair, it's easy with hindsight to say they should have started developing digital much earlier, when in reality consumer digital photography only started to make commercial sense when computers and public networking became powerful enough to support it. That didn't happen until the later 90s. Until then, most computers lacked the photo quality displays we take for granted now.
  - djsumdog 9y ago
    I can remember my oldest digital camera was a Kodak my parents bought me, with a CF card in it I believe.
- mulmen 9y ago
  What kind of company is 3M? Or IBM? Or GE? Management is responsible for the strategy and long term success of a business. Pivots are necessary and a core part of successful strategies.
MarkMc 9y ago
I see it the other way. What if Kodak hadn't wasted money trying to enter businesses like digital cameras and printers - ie. low-margin products where Kodak had no competitive advantage. Sure, Kodak would have still gone out of business but it wouldn't have wasted so much shareholder capital in the process.
Zardoz84 9y ago
interesting... my first digital camera was a Kodak. Only enough internal flash storage (no removable) that can hold around 75 JPEG photos at 640x480 . And without screen. How ever no body had a digital camera except me, for a few years. I kept it

> but I don’t think anyone could have saved say, Kodak Why not? What if Kodak management had went hard on digital initially instead of clinging to film for so long?

throwawayjava 9y ago

Then they would've softened their blow and perhaps delayed their relative demise until the rise of smartphones. But I do think it's fair to say that the transition was going to be a bloodbath of layoffs and declining revenue in any case.

nwah1 9y ago
Someone has to make the cameras in the phones. That plausibly could've been Kodak, in an alternate reality.
- throwawayjava 9y ago
  There still would've been a bloodbath because chemical engineers aren't EEs/SEs. All the Kodak scientists/engineers/factory workers who were designing and making film would not have immediately pivoted to digital camera design and software development. The "camera design" portion of kodak isn't where the primary bloodbath happened. The bloodbath happened when film died. In other words, kodak the company may have thrived, but only by shedding huge portions of its workforce and retooling. I guess if all you care about is stock value, then sure, Kodak could've pulled it off. But for the folks on the ground, the bloodbath would've happened either way.

TorKlingberg 9y ago

Kodak was never an electronics company, or even a camera company. Nikon and Canon would have eaten their lunch.

TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
Kodak literally invented the digital camera, and were significant in both consumer and professional digital photography in the early 00s. They missed by not innovating fast enough compared to the competition, not by ignoring the market. Unimaginative management was very definitely a problem - although to be fair, it's easy with hindsight to say they should have started developing digital much earlier, when in reality consumer digital photography only started to make commercial sense when computers and public networking became powerful enough to support it. That didn't happen until the later 90s. Until then, most computers lacked the photo quality displays we take for granted now.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  I can remember my oldest digital camera was a Kodak my parents bought me, with a CF card in it I believe.
mulmen 9y ago
What kind of company is 3M? Or IBM? Or GE? Management is responsible for the strategy and long term success of a business. Pivots are necessary and a core part of successful strategies.

MarkMc 9y ago

I see it the other way. What if Kodak hadn't wasted money trying to enter businesses like digital cameras and printers - ie. low-margin products where Kodak had no competitive advantage. Sure, Kodak would have still gone out of business but it wouldn't have wasted so much shareholder capital in the process.

Zardoz84 9y ago

interesting... my first digital camera was a Kodak. Only enough internal flash storage (no removable) that can hold around 75 JPEG photos at 640x480 . And without screen. How ever no body had a digital camera except me, for a few years. I kept it