• my take on Kodak downfall

    From nospam@21:1/5 to '''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk on Wed May 19 17:21:42 2021
    XPost: sci.image.processing

    In article <s83s98$edf$4@gioia.aioe.org>, Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:


    Kodak PCD digital scanning service was well ahead of the game at one
    point

    hah, pcd was never ahead of anything. it was dead from the start.

    and Bryce Bayer one shot colour mask designer worked for Kodak.

    long ago, yes. he invented what is now known as the bayer mask.

    I recall the Kodak transition to digital cameras as an early adopter. I
    got a massively discounted DC-120 1Mpixel camera "remaindered" when they launched the confusingly named DC-210 a couple of months later.

    120 and 210 confuse you? seriously???

    were you confused that canon had a d30 and 30d?
    or that canon and nikon both had a d60?
    or maybe that canon had a 300d and nikon had a d300?

    or that linksys had a wrt54g and wtr54g router?

    or that asus has a 68u and 86u wifi router?

    Kodak marketing department really knew how to shoot themselves in the
    foot with both barrels. Almost as bad as IBM with the PS/2 OS/2 debacle.

    that was *very* different in many ways.

    everyone, including kodak, knew that digital was going to make film
    obsolete.

    the problem was that kodak's management was incredibly stupid and
    thought it would take much longer than it actually did.

    it also didn't help that kodak's digital cameras were not competitive,
    with the most convoluted user interface anyone could possibly have come
    up with. i remember having to dig through 4-5 levels of menus to be
    able to change the shutter speed. clearly a design by committee and not
    by actual users. instant fail.

    a better comparison would be with blackberry, which was once the most
    popular smartphone.

    when rim/blackberry first saw the iphone, they didn't think it would
    amount to much, further confirmed by seeing their sales go up for a
    year or two, only to be hit with reality.

    everyone else saw the iphone train coming. they didn't.

    even google knew the iphone was the future. android was originally
    going to be a blackberry clone, and when they saw the iphone, they
    immediately shifted gears and copied the iphone instead.

    <http://allthingsd.com/files/2011/11/Android_before_after_iphone.png>

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    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Martin Brown@21:1/5 to nospam on Thu May 20 08:45:11 2021
    XPost: sci.image.processing

    On 19/05/2021 22:21, nospam wrote:
    In article <s83s98$edf$4@gioia.aioe.org>, Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:


    Kodak PCD digital scanning service was well ahead of the game at one
    point

    hah, pcd was never ahead of anything. it was dead from the start.

    It was very good at the time it was first introduced. You don't known
    what you are talking about so you must be the real Dale.

    and Bryce Bayer one shot colour mask designer worked for Kodak.

    long ago, yes. he invented what is now known as the bayer mask.

    I recall the Kodak transition to digital cameras as an early adopter. I
    got a massively discounted DC-120 1Mpixel camera "remaindered" when they
    launched the confusingly named DC-210 a couple of months later.

    120 and 210 confuse you? seriously???

    It confused the hell out of their UK *dealers* who immediately
    remaindered the older model. I benefited nicely from their confusion.

    were you confused that canon had a d30 and 30d?
    or that canon and nikon both had a d60?
    or maybe that canon had a 300d and nikon had a d300?

    or that linksys had a wrt54g and wtr54g router?

    or that asus has a 68u and 86u wifi router?

    Kodak marketing department really knew how to shoot themselves in the
    foot with both barrels. Almost as bad as IBM with the PS/2 OS/2 debacle.

    that was *very* different in many ways.

    everyone, including kodak, knew that digital was going to make film
    obsolete.

    They did fuck all about it though. Digital photography development was deliberately held back to protect the lucrative wet chemistry film
    market. They badly misjudged how long they had remaining.

    I had abandoned Kodak film for the much better Fuji film by then anyway
    and I suspect I was not alone in doing that.

    the problem was that kodak's management was incredibly stupid and
    thought it would take much longer than it actually did.

    it also didn't help that kodak's digital cameras were not competitive,
    with the most convoluted user interface anyone could possibly have come
    up with. i remember having to dig through 4-5 levels of menus to be
    able to change the shutter speed. clearly a design by committee and not
    by actual users. instant fail.

    a better comparison would be with blackberry, which was once the most
    popular smartphone.

    when rim/blackberry first saw the iphone, they didn't think it would
    amount to much, further confirmed by seeing their sales go up for a
    year or two, only to be hit with reality.

    everyone else saw the iphone train coming. they didn't.

    even google knew the iphone was the future. android was originally
    going to be a blackberry clone, and when they saw the iphone, they immediately shifted gears and copied the iphone instead.

    <http://allthingsd.com/files/2011/11/Android_before_after_iphone.png>

    They were not alone - Polaroid committed suicide in much the same way.

    --
    Regards,
    Martin Brown

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