I grew up in the era when Kodak was the Godzilla of films. So it's nice to learn that Kodak is back. Nowadays I buy Kodak batteries. So the company is into more than printing.
The company was founded 1892 and that complex( at lest the main tower) was built in 1912. It’s old yes but also very historic. Think of the R&D done in that building. That and as a WNY’er I can tell you that’s the entire city of Rochester and buffalo… The rustbelt baby
Why put carpets on the wall, no one going to try to walk on that part, unless they want to later put it on the floor, to recarpet with sane style when replacing floor carpet
my friend was an accounting auditor intern for xerox during the same time period. These obsolte companies didn't know what to do. Xerox in particular, tried 3D printing, without knowning what 3D pritning really was back in 2015-2017. Kodak just happened to land a great tenured CEO who has been in tech industry to change their direction.
I Agree. Both had IP assets but no vision. Engineers at Xerox PARC gave Woz their code for a mouse-based GUI because middle management couldn't envision why anyone would want to control a computer that way, rejecting the project. Kodak management, after decades of depicting lights at the ends of tunnels, would not recognize that the light was indeed a train - a train of digital image sensors and supporting processing software. Kodak was already into both but did not move until it was too late to prevent bankruptcy. Both examples tend to reinforce the psychology behind casual consumer choices, and that managers have a stake in maintaining the status quo rather than risking consumer acceptance of a new product or underlying technology.
Xerox had a huge innovation problem in the 2000ds it barely survived. I remember buying a Xerox color laser back in the day that had a finace model based on the widely known refill scam of Lexmark (less filled starting cartridges, new ones cost double than the printer initially). But it doubled down by a ridicolously bad raster print quality for color pictures.
As a boomer happy to hear Kodak's a using film come back! Loved those dark room days ... something so special about old primitive ways ... even vinyl LP records have made a come back. "Don't know what you got until it's gone", so true Joni Mitchell.
Vinyl is a small thing for those who love to spend 10 times or more for something I bought in the 70s. How do you justify a $40 vinyl record when I bought the same thing for $3.77. It never will recover to the point it had long ago with stored packed with thousands of albums. It was an exciting time but streaming and lousy artists killed it. Now, I think it is cool that people still use film to make movies. There is a difference, grain and color and even lenses. Many of the greatest movies were done on film. The movie I love, "Grand Prix," from around 1968 was made using film. The cars decked out with huge cameras is a sight to see, yet that movie still blows me away.
Was in the photo finishing biz for 30 years. Digital imaging has never exceeded the silver halide process in detail, saturation, depth or image permanence. The biggest loss that came with digital was the shoe box of photos in the closet. A large element of our personal visual history is being eliminated by lost and submerged phones, crashed computers, deceased relatives unknown passwords and a host of other digital pitfalls. Sadly this current era in our personal lives will be photographically undocumented...
Their Harrow (UK) factory finally closed in 2016 after gradually being run down. The site is now being redeveloped into a housing estate called Eastman Village. The only remnant of the factory is the chimney.
I respect the work you put into your videos. I find it really baffling that all the major crypto UA-camrs are only looking at pure waves and completely ignoring the broader narrative of why BTC is pumping and why the future outlook may not be as optimistic as it seems. It's kind of irresponsible to note the fact that every ETF launch so far has caused a major spike in BTC's spike. Already on shaky ground with historically low volume and near pure whale pumps, we narrowly avoided a simple bear market........ I have managed to grow a nest egg of around 210k to a decent 932k in the space of a few months... I'm especially grateful to Harry’s Dent, whose deep expertise and traditional trading acumen have been invaluable in this challenging, ever-evolving financial landscape.
In a field as rapidly evolving as cryptocurrency, staying updated is crucial. Harry’s continual research and adaptation to the latest market changes have been instrumental in helping me make informed decisions.
How companies treat digital media vs physical media nowadays. It's more important right now for companies to create a platform for physical ownership rather than digital ownerships that are precious to you.
I knew Jeff Clarke during his Kodak tenure....someone should make a movie about his almost single handedly saving the motion picture film plant when the board of directors told him to close it. Don't remember the year, but on one of the academy award shows, most of the major winners were shot on Kodak film, and though Mr. Clarke was invited to Hollywood for the ceremony, he chose to stay in Rochester, where he threw a party for the film department staff, and payed for it out of his own pocket....
This is one of the most amazing company reviews I've ever seen. Kodak has a warm spot in my heart from my childhood, I am so glad they were able to turn things around! Thank you for this!
I am 51, from the original analogue times :D We learned at school how to devellop film and photos. I had no idea this was a thing again, even though I would never go back to analogue, it is fun to see the youngsters find appreciation for what was the norm in my younger years :D Next comeback: VHS :D
I think in a post truth society with stuff like Ai and deep fakes and filters and CGI, people will want the truth more then ever before and 20 years from now it will be completely impossible to tell the real from the fake with how powerful all those digital tools are becoming. So I predict a HUGE comeback of analog as it will be the only way to differentiate the rela from the fake.
Films add "soul" to the photos as they have a unique look that is very difficult to replicate with sharp digital photos. Listening to vinyl is a ritual on its own. While cassette tape and VHS, they add nothing and are just forgettable. Maybe except the nostalgia of that race car rewinding device. Nothing speaks "class", "quality" or "soulful". So no, don't come back, VHS.
My grandfather worked there for 36 years. Kodak built several hundred homes in Rochester and sold them to employees. My grandfather paid $1100.00 for his. Raised a family in that home. All 3 boys worked at Kodak for over 35 years. One of the boys was my father. Just out of high school Kodak offered me a job. I never worked there. Im glad i didn't. The good days were long gone. My father bought a new car every 2 years. 6 weeks vacation each year.
I hope that Kodak's recent history never obscures stories like yours. Families were able to grow and prosper thanks to Eastman and Strong, who both cared deeply about their employees.
Even in their companies abroad like in the Philippines, employees were paid well with good benefits. It was one of the better managed companies in the Philippines. I was able to visit their office in Makati because of lost negatives but came out impressed on how they handled my case. I was given a tour of their printing facilities. This was in the 1980's.
Six weeks vacation every year?! Well, there is a good example of why the business couldn't make it. One eighth of the year he was gone with the company paying for it, along with all the other employee costs associated with the paying of their employees. How can a business survive with costs like that?
They pissed away their copy product division, their medical products division and didn’t jump on the digital photography market. I know because I worked there from January 82 to April 91 as a Field Engineer. Just before my 10 anniversary when I’d be vested in the Retirement plan, they canned me with no explanation. To this day I’ve never purchased a Kodak product and never will.
So basically Kodak used bankruptcy to get out of the obligation to pay employee retirement and then used patented tech they had developed to corner an new market.
They’re bankruptcy attorneys also got paid based on how much tax liabilities they could get them out of for their sprawling properties. I’ve read it was on the level of Enron
When I first got into photography in high school, armed with a Minolta SRT-101, we called Eastman Kodak Company "Yellow Father." I'm glad to see Dad is back.
Great quality videos on this channel. I like that you show your face from time to time so it doesn't feel like 99% of AI generated channels on yt. Well done my dude
Worked in wholesale photofinishing while working through school. Crazyass job unloading huge rolls of photopaper in a pitch black darkroom to load onto a paper processing machine. Up and down that corridor trying to keep up with the printers. Good to see Kodak thriving in another market. Digital is great, but still can't duplicate the 'warmth' of film.
As a home camera user never left Kodak and, I never will. My first film camera was an Instamatic Kodak 100 and, my current digital camera is a Kodak PIXPRO AZ-652 (smile ... smile).
Okay so it was pretty interesting, but now I'm left with the question of what Kodak will do going forward - Surely analog/film photography will not continue to make them too much money, and with stuff being digital is this printing technology really going to continue being viable as a revenue stream?
Another reason I wait for Friday. Nice video as always. Follow it up with Fujifilm which ventured into cosmetics after the digital camera revolution swept their cameras aside
I just heard Kodak film is reappearing on store shelves it's cool to see they're back and it's not some Chinese company selling bootleg products with their name.
As another comment says, Kodak wasn’t a camera company in the first place. It was a chemical company. The innovation was how to make film, how to process it, and how to print it. They were never the Hasselblad or the Nikon of cameras.
Yes, they only made and sold cheap cameras, not expensive cameras. Did you notice he photoshopped the name Kodak onto a Nikon camera? He forgot to photoshop Kodak onto the lens though so you can see it's a Nikkor lens! Of course Nikkor lenses only fit on Nikon cameras!
This video makes too much emphasis on Kodaks' consumer sales and cameras, which were a very small segment of Kodak sales. It was often said that Kodak only made cameras so that customers had something to put film in. Film projectors and Ektagraphic slide projectors served the same purpose. Kodak was a chemical process imaging company producing products for imaging and reproduction over a wide variety of industries. There was the consumer market and the professional photography market, motion picture film market, x-ray films for medical imaging and a huge market of industrial applications, metallurgy, aeronautics and security. A multitude of equipment, inks and products for the commercial printing industry. Various microfilm formats and the cataloging and retrieval systems for everything from business documents to engineering drawings. The explosion of digital imaging challenged every type of imaging segment and was far more damaging than just digital cameras. The vast diversification of the company, partnerships with other high brand companies and the outsourcing to foreign manufacturers eroded the company from it's main proven focus. At the same time, Kodak was the elephant in the room who couldn't turn around fast enough. Saddled with a management team that believed that Kodak was too big to fail and they learned a hard lesson.
North Americans once referred to the family camera as "The Kodak". Don't forget to bring "The Kodak" for the trip. Just as Kleenex became synonymous for a facial tissue and Aspirin was synonymous for a headache tablet.
Old film photographer here. At the pinnacle of negative film the advancements sharpness and clarity and color, were amazing. And the new digital cameras really weren’t that good to be honest. It was years before it was better than 35 mm. Digital wasn’t better. It was just easier.
Kodak wasn't a camera company, even with its digital patents. It was stuck being a film and photo processing company. Interestingly enough, my daughter is having fun with film photography. But it's gotta be a niche market. I'm pleased they've made a comeback.
9 днів тому
When I worked for Warner Bros., I would go to Kodak Toronto, at least once a week, and fill my trunk with their film. Oh, how times have changed.
I believe there is a factual error at the very start: Kodak did not have 90% of the camera market unless you go to the early 1900s with the Brownie. However, it probably had 90% of the camera FILM market.
Thanks for the video. It's well put together and it present the other side of Kodak's recovery. As for Kodak's camera business, I recently purchased a Kodak Ektar H35N half-frame film camera and it's pretty awesome! Well worth the price. Takes nice photos and film development is pretty affordable.
I remember i had a phone back in 2008 that was a partnership with kodak and motorolla called the "zine" or zn5 ..at the time, the 5mp camera was one of the best cameras on a phone due to kodak's imaging technology..if they made a modern day sequel to this phone id actually buy it..glad to see kodak bouncing back
Yeah, keeping thinking Kodak is "back." Film processing is very expensive and slow. Nostalgia heads keep trying to push it but once they try it they realize paying $30 for 27 pictures is insane.
An interesting and informative video as always, thanks. There were some issues with the subtitles which ceased to work during one segment of the video.
I got my dream job at Kodak UK in 1980 after uni. : Customer relations and chairman of the Kodak house camera club: unlimited film, studios and an E6 processing lab to play with ! Fab. I those days I think the brand recognition worldwide was second only to Coca-Cola. So sorry to see its demise in later years.
I worked at Kodak for many years. If the information about other companies is as true as the information about Kodak, you shouldn't waste your time on this channel.
@@cthoadmin7458 You may not have noticed he photoshopped the Kodak name onto a Nikon camera! However he forgot to do the same with the lens, so you can clearly see the name Nikkor which are Nikon lenses and don't fit on other brands' cameras. @For.M is right.
I worked for Kodak as a Field Service Tech installing Film & Paper Processors , Fixed and maintained them back when One Hr Photolabs were still around. Back in the 2010 -2011 We started removing them in place of Kodak digital Kiosk printing on Dyesub paper... That was when I knew I was installing my way out of the Job... When Kodak Went into Bankruptcy they kept us around for a year with nothing to do... basically I sat a home and collected a paycheck until the bankruptcy went through...
Kodak is owned by a mix of institutional investors, retail investors, and individual investors. The ownership structure is as follows: Institutional investors: Own approximately 36.91% of the company's stock Insiders: Own 7.86% of the company's stock Public companies and individual investors: Own 55.24% of the company's stock Kodak is also part-owned by Kodak Alaris, a British company that was formed after Kodak entered bankruptcy in 2012. Kodak Alaris has two main divisions: Kodak Moments Includes retail photo printing kiosks and the sale and marketing of traditional photographic film Kodak Alaris Includes hardware and software for digital imaging and information management In 2020, the paper and chemistry business of Kodak Alaris was sold to the Chinese company Sino Promise. In 2024, Kingswood Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, acquired Kodak Alaris.
@@cthoadmin7458 no no no, i used this word intentionally; mediocracy: "a dominant class consisting of mediocre people, or a system in which mediocrity is rewarded" has killed many o companies
@@Zuranthus Was that ever Kodak's problem? There are many ways to get mediocre results, being a mediocracy is certainly one of them. Kodak had the misfortune to be dominant in an industry that was overtaken by another technology, like Xerox, Olivetti and many others. Often made all the more painful, by the fact Kodak and Xerox were pioneers in the very industries (digital photography, and the electronic office) that did them in. Should they have seen the future and adapted? Easier said than done, it takes rare genius like Steve Jobs to do that. I made a mistake in criticising you sorry, but it's an interesting distinction...
@@cthoadmin7458 when you look at the leadership these companies had in place and the lack of innovation it becomes obvious, let's not forget that Kodak was approached when digital cameras came out but they turned it down because they didn't want to lose sales in their film department...it's a story that repeats over n over; Xerox, Blockkbuster, IBM, Bell Labs, General Electric etc etc complacent leadership that stifles innovation and rewards mediocrity
I miss Kodak Color Infrared Aero Ektachrome IE 135-20 film and doing my own E-4 processing. I recall also using a yellow (or red)? filter for optimum color exposure results. Could easily identify sick plants and trees. Used 120/35mm B&W IR film at various ISO speeds too; fun good old days.
Kodak primarily made their money from Film, not from cameras. They lost their way when they tried to corner the consumer ink jet market. Now they are returning to their base market; making film. Your concentration on cameras is wildly misplaced!
Kodak used to dominate the ecosystem for sharing prints. When that was no longer valued because of digital cameras and the Internet, they slipped. They dominated early digital with Kodak sensors and journalist products. Even had a foot hold in medical, processing, paper, chemicals, and film (motion picture, medium format, 35mm, 16mm, X-ray).
This certainly brough back fond memories. I used to work in digital printing and our B&W printers of choice were the Kodak Digimaster series. Brilliant B&W machines with such unbelievable black to white contrast and accessories, making it a production powerhouse. Unfortunately this was also during the bankrupcy time, so Kodak kinda threw this division under the bus and with it, their Nexpress colour division as well which was mroe of a mercy killing. I do recall the Digimasters were under the Heidelberg banner for a while but that seemed to just come and go. Anyway Kodak were innovators but their marketing teams were always off with the fairies.
I wonder if Kodak would ever consider making a disposable digital camera that could be used for weddings, reunions, etc. For people who don't want to use thier phones or can't afford a professional photographer. Something that can fit in a shirt pocket.
In the 1980's the British Journal of Photography published an annual review of the global industry. In the Top 3 every year there were the letters ITT.
Ill fill in a few blanks here. That UK pension fund gets to distribute almost all Kodak films worldwide. It's name is Alaris. The films are still being made in Rochester. The current generation of color movie stock is called Vision 3 and is thought to be the very best ever made by anyone. Kodak sells that directly, I think. Yes, kiddies, you can place an order on line and drive up to the door of the warehouse in Hollywood! Maybe Spielberg did that once upon a time.
i wish they would create a replacement for LinoTronic high res film laser printer. I miss so much that those are seldom to be found in service bureaus today.
Nothing like celloid in film making. Electronic video is fine for music videos but for the silver screen nothing works like Technicolor or the warmer Kodak film stocks.
Go to invideo.io/i/Logic and use our code 'LOGIC50' to get twice the number of video generation credits in your first month.
I grew up in the era when Kodak was the Godzilla of films. So it's nice to learn that Kodak is back. Nowadays I buy Kodak batteries. So the company is into more than printing.
Glad to see Kodak back to profitable business... I was really sad when I heard of it's bankruptcy a few years ago...
Fun Fact. I worked as an auditor on the 2012 Kodak carve out . On site in Rochester - the building was so old they still had carpet on the walls .
Dang hahaha. You know it’s old when they have carpet on the walls.
fellow 585er?
I have been to the Kodak Tower in Rochester so many times. You feel the legacy and the nostalgia in the hallowed walls.
The company was founded 1892 and that complex( at lest the main tower) was built in 1912. It’s old yes but also very historic. Think of the R&D done in that building. That and as a WNY’er I can tell you that’s the entire city of Rochester and buffalo… The rustbelt baby
Why put carpets on the wall, no one going to try to walk on that part, unless they want to later put it on the floor, to recarpet with sane style when replacing floor carpet
Just makes me realize how important is a great leadership. Kodak, Nokia, Microsoft are some transformative examples
Steve Ballmer is truly my transformative hero. I watch his presentations every Friday night.
And how important it is to avoid paying as much tax as possible and be in the same club as the judge.
That's why we vote for a president every four years.
For anyone who loves movies, film still lives. Hollywood still makes movies on film cameras, because digital is frozen in its own time.
my friend was an accounting auditor intern for xerox during the same time period. These obsolte companies didn't know what to do. Xerox in particular, tried 3D printing, without knowning what 3D pritning really was back in 2015-2017.
Kodak just happened to land a great tenured CEO who has been in tech industry to change their direction.
I Agree. Both had IP assets but no vision. Engineers at Xerox PARC gave Woz their code for a mouse-based GUI because middle management couldn't envision why anyone would want to control a computer that way, rejecting the project. Kodak management, after decades of depicting lights at the ends of tunnels, would not recognize that the light was indeed a train - a train of digital image sensors and supporting processing software. Kodak was already into both but did not move until it was too late to prevent bankruptcy.
Both examples tend to reinforce the psychology behind casual consumer choices, and that managers have a stake in maintaining the status quo rather than risking consumer acceptance of a new product or underlying technology.
@@raygunsforronnie847 But one should notice that standalone consumer digital cameras ended up being short lived product.
Xerox had a huge innovation problem in the 2000ds it barely survived. I remember buying a Xerox color laser back in the day that had a finace model based on the widely known refill scam of Lexmark (less filled starting cartridges, new ones cost double than the printer initially). But it doubled down by a ridicolously bad raster print quality for color pictures.
I like how you increased the amount of video releases while as well increasing the quality. Normally we see opposite. Keep rocking, dude.
Technically, did pull back on uploads, but really appreciate the kind words!
So we got 2 former bankrupt behemoths thriving before we got GTA 6
Indeed hahaha
Who's the second one?
@@rajattalnikar6507Nokia
Nokia i think @rajattalnikar6507
@@rajattalnikar6507 the one he mentions at the end of the video
As a boomer happy to hear Kodak's a using film come back! Loved those dark room days ... something so special about old primitive ways ... even vinyl LP records have made a come back. "Don't know what you got until it's gone", so true Joni Mitchell.
Vinyl is a small thing for those who love to spend 10 times or more for something I bought in the 70s. How do you justify a $40 vinyl record when I bought the same thing for $3.77. It never will recover to the point it had long ago with stored packed with thousands of albums. It was an exciting time but streaming and lousy artists killed it.
Now, I think it is cool that people still use film to make movies. There is a difference, grain and color and even lenses. Many of the greatest movies were done on film. The movie I love, "Grand Prix," from around 1968 was made using film. The cars decked out with huge cameras is a sight to see, yet that movie still blows me away.
Odd how Kodak can balance innovation with valuing its heritage.
That is profound and amazing.
brilliance in managing the obvious , few can do that
I thought they made a comeback films, didn’t know it was commercial printing. The former CEO is a legend.
Which former CEO? Antonio was a moron who drove the company off the cliff with his "cheap ink" model.
Was in the photo finishing biz for 30 years. Digital imaging has never exceeded the silver halide process in detail, saturation, depth or image permanence. The biggest loss that came with digital was the shoe box of photos in the closet. A large element of our personal visual history is being eliminated by lost and submerged phones, crashed computers, deceased relatives unknown passwords and a host of other digital pitfalls. Sadly this current era in our personal lives will be photographically undocumented...
Dead right, Karenn - I think the same.
Their Harrow (UK) factory finally closed in 2016 after gradually being run down. The site is now being redeveloped into a housing estate called Eastman Village. The only remnant of the factory is the chimney.
Actually Kodak was never camera company. There main business was film and film processing. Except me low end instamatic camera.
Have you heard of the Kodak Brownie?
It is still a camera company albeit a one stop one, camera plus films and processing film and development.
Completely right. Medical and military work too. Chemicals, paper, developing, and processors (color)-they owned the ecosystem for sharing prints.
Bring back KODACHR
Kodak owned graflex as well but that was dead by the 70s
You do some solid work sir. Keep crushing it
Thank you for the support Dan!
I respect the work you put into your videos. I find it really baffling that all the major crypto UA-camrs are only looking at pure waves and completely ignoring the broader narrative of why BTC is pumping and why the future outlook may not be as optimistic as it seems. It's kind of irresponsible to note the fact that every ETF launch so far has caused a major spike in BTC's spike. Already on shaky ground with historically low volume and near pure whale pumps, we narrowly avoided a simple bear market........ I have managed to grow a nest egg of around 210k to a decent 932k in the space of a few months... I'm especially grateful to Harry’s Dent, whose deep expertise and traditional trading acumen have been invaluable in this challenging, ever-evolving financial landscape.
He mostly interacts on Telegrams, using the user-name,
@HarrysDent.
In a field as rapidly evolving as cryptocurrency, staying updated is crucial. Harry’s continual research and adaptation to the latest market changes have been instrumental in helping me make informed decisions.
Nice, I was just hodling before I found Dent. In my opinion he is the very best out there.
I read about Harry S Dent too on the internet. That was how I connected with him. Good is got people’s back too
How companies treat digital media vs physical media nowadays. It's more important right now for companies to create a platform for physical ownership rather than digital ownerships that are precious to you.
Kodak come back at the right time when relationship between customers and steamers turn sour, and physical media now worth another look for customers.
I knew Jeff Clarke during his Kodak tenure....someone should make a movie about his almost single handedly saving the motion picture film plant when the board of directors told him to close it. Don't remember the year, but on one of the academy award shows, most of the major winners were shot on Kodak film, and though Mr. Clarke was invited to Hollywood for the ceremony, he chose to stay in Rochester, where he threw a party for the film department staff, and payed for it out of his own pocket....
This is one of the most amazing company reviews I've ever seen. Kodak has a warm spot in my heart from my childhood, I am so glad they were able to turn things around! Thank you for this!
I am 51, from the original analogue times :D We learned at school how to devellop film and photos. I had no idea this was a thing again, even though I would never go back to analogue, it is fun to see the youngsters find appreciation for what was the norm in my younger years :D
Next comeback: VHS :D
VHS *is* making a comeback. Alien Romulus was just released on VHS 🙂
@@cdwilliams1 Meh, just one of the many hipster fads out there. It'll fade soon enough...
I think in a post truth society with stuff like Ai and deep fakes and filters and CGI, people will want the truth more then ever before and 20 years from now it will be completely impossible to tell the real from the fake with how powerful all those digital tools are becoming. So I predict a HUGE comeback of analog as it will be the only way to differentiate the rela from the fake.
Films add "soul" to the photos as they have a unique look that is very difficult to replicate with sharp digital photos. Listening to vinyl is a ritual on its own. While cassette tape and VHS, they add nothing and are just forgettable. Maybe except the nostalgia of that race car rewinding device. Nothing speaks "class", "quality" or "soulful". So no, don't come back, VHS.
@@Dimitri88888888i agree but i think it will be sooner than 20 years. Probably nearer 10
The money they moved away from workers pensions went to executive bonuses and shareholders dividends.
My grandfather worked there for 36 years. Kodak built several hundred homes in Rochester and sold them to employees. My grandfather paid $1100.00 for his. Raised a family in that home. All 3 boys worked at Kodak for over 35 years. One of the boys was my father. Just out of high school Kodak offered me a job. I never worked there. Im glad i didn't. The good days were long gone. My father bought a new car every 2 years. 6 weeks vacation each year.
I hope that Kodak's recent history never obscures stories like yours. Families were able to grow and prosper thanks to Eastman and Strong, who both cared deeply about their employees.
Even in their companies abroad like in the Philippines, employees were paid well with good benefits. It was one of the better managed companies in the Philippines. I was able to visit their office in Makati because of lost negatives but came out impressed on how they handled my case. I was given a tour of their printing facilities. This was in the 1980's.
Six weeks vacation every year?! Well, there is a good example of why the business couldn't make it. One eighth of the year he was gone with the company paying for it, along with all the other employee costs associated with the paying of their employees. How can a business survive with costs like that?
@@rickhinojosa5455 The company and its employees did exceptionally well until management could not embrace digital and leverage it.
@@rickhinojosa5455 They manage in Europe. In most of Western world nobody would work in a job with US-like vacations
You don't always get to hear good news about failing companies. Thank you for bringing this to light
They pissed away their copy product division, their medical products division and didn’t jump on the digital photography market. I know because I worked there from January 82 to April 91 as a Field Engineer. Just before my 10 anniversary when I’d be vested in the Retirement plan, they canned me with no explanation. To this day I’ve never purchased a Kodak product and never will.
So basically Kodak used bankruptcy to get out of the obligation to pay employee retirement and then used patented tech they had developed to corner an new market.
They’re bankruptcy attorneys also got paid based on how much tax liabilities they could get them out of for their sprawling properties. I’ve read it was on the level of Enron
@@Noone-l6gtheir
It is the American way
@@marklittle8805 Trump did it 6X
Pathetic comment
Comebacks are always possible in the realm of business..
Never give up!!! 🚫
Same in life.
Ask Donald Trump!
Lol. So true.. No matter what he keeps coming back!!!
I'm 64 & had a kodak instamatic 33 camera as a teeneger in the mid 1970's. Great camera that was & this story is brilliant on the kodak recovery.
Don't forget the success of Eastman Chemical, spun off in 1994. EK shareholders got stock in EMN and the company has done very well.
When I first got into photography in high school, armed with a Minolta SRT-101, we called Eastman Kodak Company "Yellow Father." I'm glad to see Dad is back.
The Eastman Kodak Company will never return to glory. They might try, but they are gone forever.
Great quality videos on this channel. I like that you show your face from time to time so it doesn't feel like 99% of AI generated channels on yt. Well done my dude
Since the cancellation of the old stock (EK), the new stock (KODK) has dropped 78%
Worked in wholesale photofinishing while working through school.
Crazyass job unloading huge rolls of photopaper in a pitch black darkroom to load onto a paper processing machine.
Up and down that corridor trying to keep up with the printers.
Good to see Kodak thriving in another market.
Digital is great, but still can't duplicate the 'warmth' of film.
As a home camera user never left Kodak and, I never will. My first film camera was an Instamatic Kodak 100 and, my current digital camera is a Kodak PIXPRO AZ-652 (smile ... smile).
As a Rochester native, this video is about to be super interesting 👀
Okay so it was pretty interesting, but now I'm left with the question of what Kodak will do going forward - Surely analog/film photography will not continue to make them too much money, and with stuff being digital is this printing technology really going to continue being viable as a revenue stream?
Analog will always have its uses. Glad they found a way to make it profitable
Another reason I wait for Friday. Nice video as always. Follow it up with Fujifilm which ventured into cosmetics after the digital camera revolution swept their cameras aside
Thanks for the suggestion Brian!
Can't wait. I still have my Pentax K-1000.😅
Me too
Kodak's solar power division is damn good too ivesentheir hardware. Top of the line. If you can't afford victron go Kodak
Didn’t know that
@@LogicallyAnswered Fascinating, I did not know that they made solar panels. 🤔
I just heard Kodak film is reappearing on store shelves it's cool to see they're back and it's not some Chinese company selling bootleg products with their name.
What Kodak is selling these day? Plenty for professional market but nothing for home users I presume.
Wtf.
Do you really expect the Chinese to copy the nasty failure of the once upon a time giant?
😅😂😅😂
i still can't belive kodak come back , good for them :)
Now I want some film to go out and take pictures in the old Minolta 😮
Yes, I have a 35mm Pentax and about $2,000 dollars worth of lenses sitting in a closet for 25 plus years.
Great video as always
Thank you as always Balpreet!
What a CEO, where is he now? Is he in demand by different industries? I find this more intriguing than the Crocs/Stanley Cup marketing guy.
very interesting video.i wish you to be 1 mn subscribers soon
As another comment says, Kodak wasn’t a camera company in the first place. It was a chemical company. The innovation was how to make film, how to process it, and how to print it. They were never the Hasselblad or the Nikon of cameras.
cheap cameras for moms n children.
Yes, they only made and sold cheap cameras, not expensive cameras. Did you notice he photoshopped the name Kodak onto a Nikon camera? He forgot to photoshop Kodak onto the lens though so you can see it's a Nikkor lens! Of course Nikkor lenses only fit on Nikon cameras!
This video makes too much emphasis on Kodaks' consumer sales and cameras, which were a very small segment of Kodak sales. It was often said that Kodak only made cameras so that customers had something to put film in. Film projectors and Ektagraphic slide projectors served the same purpose. Kodak was a chemical process imaging company producing products for imaging and reproduction over a wide variety of industries. There was the consumer market and the professional photography market, motion picture film market, x-ray films for medical imaging and a huge market of industrial applications, metallurgy, aeronautics and security. A multitude of equipment, inks and products for the commercial printing industry. Various microfilm formats and the cataloging and retrieval systems for everything from business documents to engineering drawings. The explosion of digital imaging challenged every type of imaging segment and was far more damaging than just digital cameras. The vast diversification of the company, partnerships with other high brand companies and the outsourcing to foreign manufacturers eroded the company from it's main proven focus. At the same time, Kodak was the elephant in the room who couldn't turn around fast enough. Saddled with a management team that believed that Kodak was too big to fail and they learned a hard lesson.
@@ostevoostevo1592 And as we now know, the future of cheap digital cameras was rather short lived
I am from West Sumatera, Indonesia. To show you how famous Kodak was back then... Our elders use Kodak term to express take a picture..
North Americans once referred to the family camera as "The Kodak". Don't forget to bring "The Kodak" for the trip. Just as Kleenex became synonymous for a facial tissue and Aspirin was synonymous for a headache tablet.
I was totally unaware of this side of Kodak. Brilliant Content, Brilliant Narration........
Another gem
Thanks for watching man!
I very recently bought a kodak analog camera
Photography enthusiast?
@@LogicallyAnswered yeah
Old film photographer here. At the pinnacle of negative film the advancements sharpness and clarity and color, were amazing. And the new digital cameras really weren’t that good to be honest. It was years before it was better than 35 mm. Digital wasn’t better. It was just easier.
Kodak wasn't a camera company, even with its digital patents. It was stuck being a film and photo processing company.
Interestingly enough, my daughter is having fun with film photography. But it's gotta be a niche market. I'm pleased they've made a comeback.
When I worked for Warner Bros., I would go to Kodak Toronto, at least once a week, and fill my trunk with their film. Oh, how times have changed.
6:47 he is right about this, vintage things sell a lot these days
I believe there is a factual error at the very start: Kodak did not have 90% of the camera market unless you go to the early 1900s with the Brownie. However, it probably had 90% of the camera FILM market.
such a cool video, ive lived in rochester my whole life and have multiple family/friends work there. great video 👍🙌
I am a Rochester native as well 😄
@sethk. its so cool to see all these 585ers on a UA-cam torment section lol
Kodak: literally *printing* money
Aaaaah I love this channel!
Thanks for the video. It's well put together and it present the other side of Kodak's recovery. As for Kodak's camera business, I recently purchased a Kodak Ektar H35N half-frame film camera and it's pretty awesome! Well worth the price. Takes nice photos and film development is pretty affordable.
So glad to see KDK rebound!
I sold off my Nikon D850 for Nikon Z6. But I retained my Vivitar film camera. Digital camera cannot replace film. It can be just another option.
V3800n? It was my dream camera 20 years ago. My father couldnt afford even that!
@oblivion_007 YES! I could buy it only after advancing to some point in my career.
Fascinating video
I really enjoyed it Thanks
I remember i had a phone back in 2008 that was a partnership with kodak and motorolla called the "zine" or zn5 ..at the time, the 5mp camera was one of the best cameras on a phone due to kodak's imaging technology..if they made a modern day sequel to this phone id actually buy it..glad to see kodak bouncing back
Always liked Kodak, remember the factory in Melbourne, Australia.
Yeah, keeping thinking Kodak is "back." Film processing is very expensive and slow. Nostalgia heads keep trying to push it but once they try it they realize paying $30 for 27 pictures is insane.
Kodak may be making a come back, but not because of their film products.
An interesting and informative video as always, thanks.
There were some issues with the subtitles which ceased to work during one segment of the video.
I got my dream job at Kodak UK in 1980 after uni. : Customer relations and chairman of the Kodak house camera club: unlimited film, studios and an E6 processing lab to play with ! Fab. I those days I think the brand recognition worldwide was second only to Coca-Cola. So sorry to see its demise in later years.
4:43 Listen to customer's need is the right way. Employ the right person to lead the company. Eg: Employ accountant to helm boeing will be disaster.
I worked at Kodak for many years.
If the information about other companies is as true
as the information about Kodak,
you shouldn't waste your time on this channel.
I'm with you on this one. Really shallow and certainly not high quality information, despite their own comments about visual quality.
You sound like you are out of your pension.
Well, pour the tea my friend
Can you humour us with specifics? Where exactly he he wrong about Kodak?
@@cthoadmin7458 You may not have noticed he photoshopped the Kodak name onto a Nikon camera! However he forgot to do the same with the lens, so you can clearly see the name Nikkor which are Nikon lenses and don't fit on other brands' cameras. @For.M is right.
I worked for Kodak as a Field Service Tech installing Film & Paper Processors , Fixed and maintained them back when One Hr Photolabs were still around. Back in the 2010 -2011 We started removing them in place of Kodak digital Kiosk printing on Dyesub paper... That was when I knew I was installing my way out of the Job... When Kodak Went into Bankruptcy they kept us around for a year with nothing to do... basically I sat a home and collected a paycheck until the bankruptcy went through...
Your voice is mesmerizing 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Kodak is owned by a mix of institutional investors, retail investors, and individual investors.
The ownership structure is as follows:
Institutional investors: Own approximately 36.91% of the company's stock
Insiders: Own 7.86% of the company's stock
Public companies and individual investors: Own 55.24% of the company's stock
Kodak is also part-owned by Kodak Alaris, a British company that was formed after Kodak entered bankruptcy in 2012. Kodak Alaris has two main divisions:
Kodak Moments
Includes retail photo printing kiosks and the sale and marketing of traditional photographic film
Kodak Alaris
Includes hardware and software for digital imaging and information management
In 2020, the paper and chemistry business of Kodak Alaris was sold to the Chinese company Sino Promise. In 2024, Kingswood Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, acquired Kodak Alaris.
Just wanted to say, you always nail it! I love every one of your videos. You are a superb documentarian and great commentator and film maker.
didn't even know Kodak was still around honestly, pretty cool, but lets see how long they last before they slump right back into corporate mediocracy
Hahaha, think they’re good for the time being
The expression I think you're after is "corporate mediocrity".
@@cthoadmin7458 no no no, i used this word intentionally;
mediocracy: "a dominant class consisting of mediocre people, or a system in which mediocrity is rewarded"
has killed many o companies
@@Zuranthus Was that ever Kodak's problem? There are many ways to get mediocre results, being a mediocracy is certainly one of them. Kodak had the misfortune to be dominant in an industry that was overtaken by another technology, like Xerox, Olivetti and many others. Often made all the more painful, by the fact Kodak and Xerox were pioneers in the very industries (digital photography, and the electronic office) that did them in. Should they have seen the future and adapted? Easier said than done, it takes rare genius like Steve Jobs to do that.
I made a mistake in criticising you sorry, but it's an interesting distinction...
@@cthoadmin7458 when you look at the leadership these companies had in place and the lack of innovation it becomes obvious, let's not forget that Kodak was approached when digital cameras came out but they turned it down because they didn't want to lose sales in their film department...it's a story that repeats over n over; Xerox, Blockkbuster, IBM, Bell Labs, General Electric etc etc
complacent leadership that stifles innovation and rewards mediocrity
WOW ... I NEVER SAW THIS COMING !!!!!!
I miss Kodak Color Infrared Aero Ektachrome IE 135-20 film and doing my own E-4 processing.
I recall also using a yellow (or red)? filter for optimum color exposure results. Could easily
identify sick plants and trees. Used 120/35mm B&W IR film at various ISO speeds too; fun good old days.
You Are Dreaming
Kodak primarily made their money from Film, not from cameras. They lost their way when they tried to corner the consumer ink jet market. Now they are returning to their base market; making film. Your concentration on cameras is wildly misplaced!
circa 1996 read in a biz magazine about the huge problems at kodak.
Nicely done. Thanks!
A corporation actually caring about its employees and their feedback? Now that's the mark of a great leader!
Kodak used to dominate the ecosystem for sharing prints. When that was no longer valued because of digital cameras and the Internet, they slipped. They dominated early digital with Kodak sensors and journalist products. Even had a foot hold in medical, processing, paper, chemicals, and film (motion picture, medium format, 35mm, 16mm, X-ray).
That was interesting and uplifting. Thanks.
Great to hear a success story - Thanks!
Kodak is still in our text books for X ray films. I haven't touuched an xray film.
This certainly brough back fond memories.
I used to work in digital printing and our B&W printers of choice were the Kodak Digimaster series.
Brilliant B&W machines with such unbelievable black to white contrast and accessories, making it a production powerhouse.
Unfortunately this was also during the bankrupcy time, so Kodak kinda threw this division under the bus and with it, their Nexpress colour division as well which was mroe of a mercy killing.
I do recall the Digimasters were under the Heidelberg banner for a while but that seemed to just come and go.
Anyway Kodak were innovators but their marketing teams were always off with the fairies.
I wonder if Kodak would ever consider making a disposable digital camera that could be used for weddings, reunions, etc. For people who don't want to use thier phones or can't afford a professional photographer. Something that can fit in a shirt pocket.
Sound photography
Has to be learned by kodak and add to its greatness
Tbh Kodak cameras were great
Great story with a wonderful ending.
In the 1980's the British Journal of Photography published an annual review of the global industry. In the Top 3 every year there were the letters ITT.
FYI - It's not "Chartering a new direction," it's " _Charting_ a new direction." Charts are maps used on a ship to set the course.
Meanwhile Polaroid got bought out by fans and has grown to be big enough to be sold at Walmart
Polaroid is just a named licensed to Chinese manufacturers. Same with Kodak consumer electronics.
My grandfather used to lament that he didn’t buy Kodak stock in ‘29. 😄
My Glasses that I wear are from Kodak and it is amazing.
Can you do a video on JBL. Why are their speakers, earphones and products so popular?
Ill fill in a few blanks here. That UK pension fund gets to distribute almost all Kodak films worldwide. It's name is Alaris. The films are still being made in Rochester. The current generation of color movie stock is called Vision 3 and is thought to be the very best ever made by anyone. Kodak sells that directly, I think. Yes, kiddies, you can place an order on line and drive up to the door of the warehouse in Hollywood! Maybe Spielberg did that once upon a time.
Wow..What an AI presenter..And the style of language style of Mrwhoistheboss.....AI is going places..
i wish they would create a replacement for LinoTronic high res film laser printer. I miss so much that those are seldom to be found in service bureaus today.
Nothing like celloid in film making. Electronic video is fine for music videos but for the silver screen
nothing works like Technicolor or the warmer Kodak film stocks.
No... They made insane amount of money on film it was pennies to make and like 5 or 10 bucks a roll