Erik, the point is that processing survives where film sells. That's been the problem in many parts of N. America.
At least part of the criticism leveled at Kodak is over just this point, and I think it's valid.
The two require a symbiotic relationship for both to work. And if Kodak isn't up to selling film, at least in NA that leaves many of us to go begging.
Now, from Kodak's perspective, if a million dollars of advertising expense results in a million dollars of increased margin revenue, then what's the point? That's no gain, for a pretty fair amount of risk (overbudget, etc.) in getting the advertisement together.
But, OTOH, if a million dollars of advertising expense results in 1.1 million dollars of margin revenue, and that million dollars doesn't have to be taken away from another revenue stream that could have produced 1.11 million, then it's a no brainer.
These are the kinds of discussions we will never see in public with Kodak's decisions. All of that happens behind closed doors, and we only see new printer ink and one fewer film choices.
In the end, it isn't Kodak's love or hate for film that is the decision point. It's the revenue stream.
What can we do? Get the serious digital crowd to see an advantage in film.
Well, let's see, a 135 frame is 24x36mm. A high end desk scanner can get quite a lot out of that, and a pro scanner can get even more. There's no reason to believe that the consumer scanners won't get better, too.
How much does a 20MP camera cost, that only gets captures which are no better resolution (ignoring other ease of use and quality factors) than a cardboard box and plastic disposable camera gets?
What I've been telling kids who ask me is get a fabulous 35mm body from the thieving auction site for cheap as dirt, and since almost every one of them wants color shoot C-41 in it and drop it at Wally World. Walmart sends everything out these days, so it goes to Fuji's processing center, which is certainly good enough for most. And check that you want the CD when you get it processed.
You get back your pics, 3 are keepers, 33 are snapshots, and you rescan those on your home scanner at way better resolution than you can get with any digital camera a teenager can afford. The CD from Fuji becomes the proof sheet. (Hey, let's call it a Proof CD.)
Ten years from now, if the kid really does become a super whizzbang artist and wants to rescan the image at 4 times the resolution they did on their desk top, then it's still good.
How's it working? Well, I got one kid interested and shooting film. But how many would doing nothing get us?
Michael