The last Kodak moment?
Kodak is at death’s door; Fujifilm, its old rival, is thriving. Why?
LENIN is said to have sneered that a capitalist will sell you the rope to hang him. The quote may be spurious, but it contains a grain of truth. Capitalists quite often invent the technology that destroys their own business.
Eastman Kodak is a picture-perfect example. It built one of the first digital cameras in 1975. That technology, followed by the development of smartphones that double as cameras, has battered Kodak's old film- and camera-making business almost to death.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "The last Kodak moment?"
From the January 14th 2012 edition
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