Sure thing! I gave up my 03 Forester in 2013 to a buddy of mine. His kid is still driving it last I checked
If junk film keeps my cameras fed then so be it. We can't all shoot Portra or Tmax. I shoot what I can get my paws on.
My '90 Corolla keeps on ticking. The dealer wants a look at it but I don't trust 'em. I think they want it for the showroom.
Either way, it's mostly all outsourced junk. Who wants junk film too?
That was quite clear. Now if folks would actually read it.
Thanks very much for posting the link!
None of which are actually needed any longer. The whole world moved to eCommerce mediated sales. Companies like B&H, Freestyle, Amazon, Target, Zoro, Walmart, Sam's Club, eBay, etc. could be used as channels to market and Kodak could run a drop ship warehouse for a whole lot less than what they are likely paying now for a distribution network or even outsource that to a 3PL of some kind. They could focus on product innovation and support by getting rid of the obsolete distribution model they are currently using. I wonder how many end point retailers even see a Kodak rep anymore.
The world changed, Kodak's leadership has not (or not enough). Either that, or they are trying to figure out how to unburden themselves of the Alaris albatross with all this kerfuffle. (In which case I take it all back.)
You appear to be completely misunderstanding, Captain. I’ll edit to help you out…
The Eastman Kodak pension plan investment has a surplus, which they are trying to access, while the pensioners are resisting.
Which may be what is actually behind this announcement.
Evidently Kodak put a statement out on X roughly two hours ago.. regarding misleading media statements.
The reality was that there's nothing the Kodak management could do. Absolutely nothing. You are forgetting how huge Kodak was at their peak: over $200 billion (!) in annual revenue (adjusted for inflation), which is about as much as Microsoft made in 2024. And Microsoft is a $3.9 trillion (!) company.
...
TLDR: Kodak management wasn't nearly as incompetent as most people think, and the most successful survived parts of their business simply aren't as known because they no longer use the brand.
P.S. If it were up to me, every single Bachelor's degree would have the usual 4 year requirement PLUS another 2 years of internship in the field of interest before the degree was granted. Apprenticing has a long and rewarding history in the trades and this should be carried into the university setting.
This fundamentally misunderstands the value of distributors and the complexity of B2B commerce in the real world.
Manufacturers and vendors use distributors to avoid things that are not their core business. It's infinitely easier for Kodak in Rochester to focus on making film and stuffing it into containers than it is to make film AND manage a global sales and distribution network servicing 30,000+ retailers across 50+ countries, each with incredibly heterogeneous regulatory requirements, payment terms, and cultural norms.
Unfortunately it's not as simple as "just take orders and ship it out" when you're talking about getting product into every major city globally.
If direct ecommerce were truly superior to distributors, Coca-Cola would have done it decades ago with their near infinite resources and market domination.
I once heard it say that Eastman Kodak is basically a pension plan with a side business in chemistry and film.
So who’s to blame (or thank) for longevity, the actuarial staff or socialized medicine.
This fundamentally misunderstands the value of distributors and the complexity of B2B commerce in the real world.
Manufacturers and vendors use distributors to avoid things that are not their core business. It's infinitely easier for Kodak in Rochester to focus on making film and stuffing it into containers than it is to make film AND manage a global sales and distribution network servicing 30,000+ retailers across 50+ countries, each with incredibly heterogeneous regulatory requirements, payment terms, and cultural norms.
Unfortunately it's not as simple as "just take orders and ship it out" when you're talking about getting product into every major city globally.
If direct ecommerce were truly superior to distributors, Coca-Cola would have done it decades ago with their near infinite resources and market domination.
With the obvious caveat that film manufacturing comprises only a small fraction of Kodak's revenue stream, I do think they would benefit from putting out more film products with higher regularity. Most companies benefit from periodically producing new products, as it maintains customer interest, but Kodak has been pretty quiet on that front (for probably understandable reasons, of course, but still).
My sense is that the "film photography revival," of which I'm a big fan, is starting to wane a bit, and my intuition is that much of the waning is due to a lack of new products, as well as a lack of product availability overall (e.g., Fuji E6 film). My hope is that Kodak getting past this hurdle in 2026 will allow them to press "reset" and start offering some new products.
At the top of my list would be: 1) the Kodak-branded E6 chemistry that they claimed was going to be released in 2024; and 2) another color E6 film to fill the void left by Velvia 50's near-unavailability (a reformulated E100VS would be great). Bringing these two out together (or something along those lines) would be a nice and much-needed shot in the arm for the analog community.
What Kodak needed to do regarding photographic film - and what they achieved - was get their production sorted so that C41 film is consistently available on the shelves and with online retailers. Creating new films or modifying existing ones to create effectively new products would involve huge cost, and big risk for likely very little return.
Film was in no way $5 a roll in the 80's, maybe on paper but I remember there were always deals, and sales, and cheaper alternatives. $1.99 for the roll and .99 1 hour development at the minilab plus prints. I'm sure list price was $5 but I don't remember spending that much on a roll of film in the 90's or even the 00's.
***The most important things to know are:
- Kodak has no plans to cease operations, go out of business, or file for bankruptcy protection.
- To the contrary, Kodak is confident it will repay, extend, or refinance its debt and preferred stock on, or before, its due date.
- When the transactions we have planned are completed, which is expected to be early next year, Kodak will have a stronger balance sheet than we have had in years and will be virtually net debt free.
- The "going concern disclosure" is a technical report that is required by accounting rules.
- We will continue to meet our obligations to all pension fund participants.
I have been often thinking about how ISO 800 film would be able to be positioned more strongly in the current market. One stop extra sensitivity and the additional granularity is now a desirable characteristic. Shorter shelf life as well, but would not deem that so relevant if it gets 2 years.As for me personally, I'd love a cheaper 800ISO or faster C41 film. But I strongly suspect the reason for the high price of the extant 800 film that goes into the single use cameras and gets branded as "Lomography" for 135 sales is because I'm pretty unusual in this desire and they don't sell much of it.
Evidently Kodak put a statement out on X roughly two hours ago.. regarding misleading media statements.
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