Not A Good Kodak Moment.

Yesterday i posted a blog called "Blacked Out", all about the proposed SOPA & PIPA acts in the USA.

In that post i mentioned about how many older companies had been caught out by the digital revolution and how many of those companies had  failed to react to the new way of doing things.

Well, today Eastman Kodak have gone and proved exactly what i was talking about. Apparently Eastman Kodak have filed for "bankruptcy protection" in the USA. Whilst this is not the end of the company, at least not yet, it is a bad day for a company that has been at the forefront of photography since they were formed 133 years ago.

There can't be many of us who have not owned a Kodak product of some kind during our lives. I can remember the first cameras that i owned and i'm pretty sure that they were all Kodak models.

So, what has gone wrong?
Well, Eastman Kodak have just failed to adapt to the digital age and have, consequently, been left behind. Yes, they've tried to keep up, in fact they were amongst the originators of digital photography. But, they have obviously failed to see where the digital revolution was headed and probably didn't think it would ever supercede the old analogue days.
How wrong they and many others have been.

All this just goes to show how far down some companies have their heads in the sand. The digital revolution is not going to go away, it is here to stay. The digital genie is well and truly out of the bottle and can never be put back into it, no matter how much those old companies wish it were otherwise.

As i said in yesterdays blog post, complaining about the new kids on the block and trying to legislate against them and their ways will not solve the problem. Older companies need to adapt and innovate, or face the inevitable consequences.

It is sad to see a company as well known, well liked and iconic as Kodak to be in such dire straits. Especially a company and a brand that has been a part of so many of our lives. But, ultimately the problem is all of their own making.

I doubt that Eastman Kodak are in any way alone in this and i'm sure we'll see more fall by the wayside in the months and years to come.

So, the lesson today is adapt, innovate, or die.