The recent announcement of Kodak filing for bankruptcy is another pillar of the past knocked down. From a ubiquitous position globally, the film maker finds itself a part of history it never expected to encounter, extinction. The scary part of this whole situation is people are taking more photos now than ever before as evidenced by the 100 billion photos just on Facebook. Kodak didn't see that coming and along with music, books, magazines and newspapers, film and television, taking happy snaps has increased dramatically but not in the traditional sense.
More music is listened to now than ever before, but not in the traditional way, more books are published now, but not in the traditional sense and more film is being produced and watched than ever before, but not on traditional media. You can see the trend, tradition is not strong enough to stave off innovation and change. The people at Kodak were keepers of the traditional method of film making, the biggest in the world and too big to fail. Sounds like something from a few years ago when talking about Lehman Brothers, doesn't it?
The one thing that stands out when looking at the changes in direction over the last few years and that is more and more convenience. Who would think about sending a roll of film away and waiting a week for photos that can only be looked at, not photoshopped, not shared and not carried around on your phone? Why wait to play the latest album from your favourite artist on the record player at home, when you can just download the best songs, carry them in your pocket and share them with your friends? Why race home to watch your favourite TV show when you can rip it, Tivo it, send it to your phone or tablet all while riding the bus to work? Why wait for the news agency to open to get the mornings newspaper, when a whole world of information can now be consumed in real time on every imaginable piece of technology in your house, including the fridge?
The trend seems obvious and I wonder if convenience will bring other companies to their knees? The factors of convenience, saving time, saving energy and saving frustration gave us things such as the car, supermarkets, ATMs, very large airplanes and convenience stores on every corner, which all ended up ubiquitous and part of normal life. Photos taken, downloaded, shared and manipulated to within an inch of no longer being the original, is today taken for granted as part of daily life, with no remorse for the Kodak's of the world. It's about what is important for the photographer and it was never about the film, something Kodak forgot as it's product was being commoditised by upstarts and start ups.
What used to be a "Kodak moment" now belongs to companies that didn't exist a decade ago and must have George Eastman, who incorporated the company in 1889, rolling in his grave. Sandisk, Digital, A ram, Micro and Transcend were all winners in the commoditisation stakes that Kodak never saw coming or admitted to seeing in their corporate future as competition. Analysts have engaged Biblical quotes about the Armageddon of convenience but an open mind to opportunities should never be blinded by avarice or short sightedness and Kodak has only one company to blame.
1 comment:
A great article, thanks Ollie!
It certainly is concerning, and an unfortunate message to other businesses about just how quickly things are changing.
A great point about the core of their 'product' being about the photographer's needs - I am sure many a company are going to struggle if they are more focused on the 'film' than innovating to provide the same outcome regardless of the medium.
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