5 ms·

This is a good point — remember that Kodak released some of the first digital cameras. They still failed to switch fast enough.

raiyu 8y ago
The shift want just digital cameras it was also the iPhone that made the digital camera obsolete. With digital cameras they were losing film revenue which was larger than camera sales. Car companies don't own gas stations so they will switch faster and easier than Kodak. There will be some struggles internally but not as much I suspect. Plus modern EVs have demonstrated more performance then ice so it's really just a matter of catering to demand as it changes. The challenge here is more on Tesla to make a sustainable car company than it is on old companies to convert. If a startup car company in Czech can make a hyper car EV that beasts a Veyron in acceleration then there is nothing proprietary about the tech and incumbents will have an easier time switching as demand evolves.
- ghaff 8y ago
  Kodak wasn't even really a camera company latterly and hadn't been a serious camera maker since the Japanese (mostly)--who still collectively mostly own the high-end camera space--cornered the market. They were primarily a photographic consumables business. Even had they executed more aggressively and better than they did, they'd have gone through hard times. (See Fujifilm which did a better job with a smaller company and still struggled.)
- imglorp 8y ago
  > more performance than ice In some axes, WAY more. The new Roadster 0-60 is 1.9 sec, which is 0.3 faster than everything on the production list. That list needs updating now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_cars_by_acceleration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_car...
  - mlrtime 8y ago
    The Roadster hasn't been released yet so nothing needs updating yet.
  - unfoldedCravat 8y ago
    It's also not all about 0-60 (at least for the motorsport market). Tesla's seem to still have issues under sustained high performance driving[1]. There's many cars with significantly slower 0-60 times that smash the Model S around Nürburgring due to batteries overheating and being put into limp mode. As the technology improves no doubt this problem will go away, but it doesn't look like we're there just yet. For perspective the Model S made it around the track in about 10 minutes, an old diesel Jaguar S Type with a 0-60 time of 8.5~ seconds did it in about 9 [2 & 3]. [1] https://insideevs.com/news/323053/tesla-model-s-fails-to-lap-nurburgring-under-full-power-video/ https://insideevs.com/news/323053/tesla-model-s-fails-to-lap... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N%C3%BCrburgring_Nordschleife_lap_times#Production,_street-legal_vehicles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N%C3%BCrburgring_Nords... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_S-Type https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_S-Type
- bluedino 8y ago
  This made me think of the future of gas stations. Will they just conver to charging stations, and charge customers to use them?
  - rtkwe 8y ago
    It'll be tough, most gas stations don't have a lot of space for a lot of charging stations and nothing to do while you wait for the charge. The large truck stop style ones might be able to convert more easily because they already have the larger lots and buildings with spaces to sit inside while you wait. I have heard anecdotally that gas stations make terrible money on their actual fuel sales and the real margins are on food inside so it may work out in the end but that low but broad base flow may be an important part of the business. In the end though they'll probably largely die out inside cities with charging mostly happening at home, at work, or in parking decks/lots. There will definitely be a need for them along highways and stuff though to service long drives. In the end that's a looooong ways off, even if you completely ban the new sale and import of ICE vehicles there's going to be a long tail for used cars until electric vehicles become 100x less expensive.
    - WorldMaker 8y ago
      Yeah, at this point inside US cities the majority of pumps have been moving to the model of grocery stores with pumps attached, and that model still works with chargers augmenting and then replacing pumps, because grocery stores generally are useful places to charge while you shop. (Just as malls seem to be good places to add chargers, if you expect and/or want people to linger/browse while they charge.) Convenience stores and restaurants will still be useful on the highways with or without gas pumps around. (People will always need to use a restroom or grab some grub on long road trips.) I figure some smart "medium fast" food restaurant that benefits from a lingering dining experience, but doesn't take too much advantage of it (ie, doesn't actively slow the diner down), will integrate chargers into their franchise plans and become the new king of the highways in the way that MacDonald's (and regionally, Waffle House) became synonymous with pit stops along the open road in the 50s and 60s.
      - 8y ago
vkou 8y ago
Kodak made more money from film sales then all camera manufactures do today, combined. If they went all-in on digital, the company would have still 'collapsed'.

raiyu 8y ago

The shift want just digital cameras it was also the iPhone that made the digital camera obsolete. With digital cameras they were losing film revenue which was larger than camera sales. Car companies don't own gas stations so they will switch faster and easier than Kodak. There will be some struggles internally but not as much I suspect. Plus modern EVs have demonstrated more performance then ice so it's really just a matter of catering to demand as it changes. The challenge here is more on Tesla to make a sustainable car company than it is on old companies to convert. If a startup car company in Czech can make a hyper car EV that beasts a Veyron in acceleration then there is nothing proprietary about the tech and incumbents will have an easier time switching as demand evolves.

ghaff 8y ago
Kodak wasn't even really a camera company latterly and hadn't been a serious camera maker since the Japanese (mostly)--who still collectively mostly own the high-end camera space--cornered the market. They were primarily a photographic consumables business. Even had they executed more aggressively and better than they did, they'd have gone through hard times. (See Fujifilm which did a better job with a smaller company and still struggled.)
imglorp 8y ago
> more performance than ice In some axes, WAY more. The new Roadster 0-60 is 1.9 sec, which is 0.3 faster than everything on the production list. That list needs updating now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_cars_by_acceleration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_car...
- mlrtime 8y ago
  The Roadster hasn't been released yet so nothing needs updating yet.
- unfoldedCravat 8y ago
  It's also not all about 0-60 (at least for the motorsport market). Tesla's seem to still have issues under sustained high performance driving[1]. There's many cars with significantly slower 0-60 times that smash the Model S around Nürburgring due to batteries overheating and being put into limp mode. As the technology improves no doubt this problem will go away, but it doesn't look like we're there just yet. For perspective the Model S made it around the track in about 10 minutes, an old diesel Jaguar S Type with a 0-60 time of 8.5~ seconds did it in about 9 [2 & 3]. [1] https://insideevs.com/news/323053/tesla-model-s-fails-to-lap-nurburgring-under-full-power-video/ https://insideevs.com/news/323053/tesla-model-s-fails-to-lap... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N%C3%BCrburgring_Nordschleife_lap_times#Production,_street-legal_vehicles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N%C3%BCrburgring_Nords... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_S-Type https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_S-Type
bluedino 8y ago
This made me think of the future of gas stations. Will they just conver to charging stations, and charge customers to use them?
- rtkwe 8y ago
  It'll be tough, most gas stations don't have a lot of space for a lot of charging stations and nothing to do while you wait for the charge. The large truck stop style ones might be able to convert more easily because they already have the larger lots and buildings with spaces to sit inside while you wait. I have heard anecdotally that gas stations make terrible money on their actual fuel sales and the real margins are on food inside so it may work out in the end but that low but broad base flow may be an important part of the business. In the end though they'll probably largely die out inside cities with charging mostly happening at home, at work, or in parking decks/lots. There will definitely be a need for them along highways and stuff though to service long drives. In the end that's a looooong ways off, even if you completely ban the new sale and import of ICE vehicles there's going to be a long tail for used cars until electric vehicles become 100x less expensive.
  - WorldMaker 8y ago
    Yeah, at this point inside US cities the majority of pumps have been moving to the model of grocery stores with pumps attached, and that model still works with chargers augmenting and then replacing pumps, because grocery stores generally are useful places to charge while you shop. (Just as malls seem to be good places to add chargers, if you expect and/or want people to linger/browse while they charge.) Convenience stores and restaurants will still be useful on the highways with or without gas pumps around. (People will always need to use a restroom or grab some grub on long road trips.) I figure some smart "medium fast" food restaurant that benefits from a lingering dining experience, but doesn't take too much advantage of it (ie, doesn't actively slow the diner down), will integrate chargers into their franchise plans and become the new king of the highways in the way that MacDonald's (and regionally, Waffle House) became synonymous with pit stops along the open road in the 50s and 60s.
    - 8y ago

vkou 8y ago

Kodak made more money from film sales then all camera manufactures do today, combined. If they went all-in on digital, the company would have still 'collapsed'.