The Polariodization of Kodak

SchwinnParamount · Dec 27, 2014

Steve Smith said:
The pedantic amongst us would say it should be Polaroidisation!

Steve.

Steve (Love you bro, but...) 1776 and again in 1814. Americans have earned the right to use the "z" instead of the Queen's "s".

cmacd123 · Dec 27, 2014

All too Common in industry these days, brands that have nothing to do with the original creators of the brand, other than as a licencing agreement. There are three different companies that sell producst under the "Westinghouse" name another that uses that name, and just another which is actually the lineal descendent of The Mighty Westinghouse company of yore, its name is CBS, and it has a subsidiary that was the original CBS.

http://www.post-gazette.com/busines...not-the-company-you-know/stories/200612150183

Want to market a product? some firms have a formal process to licence a famous brand...
http://brandlicensing.electrolux.com/en/our-brands/all/

Basically if you see a product in a store and it has a brand that you recognize it is probably made by someone else under licence.

benjiboy · Dec 27, 2014

Ken Nadvornick said:
Kodak Is Making Android Phones Now Because Sure, Why Not I Guess?
Eric Limer, for Gizmodo online, December 26, 2014

"The companynow little more than a name to be slapped on products from all kinds of no-name manufacturers..."

"If this sound vaguely familiar, it's because Polaroid has gone down this same road to little success, lending its name to a series of entirely unremarkable Android tablets. There's an outside chance these new Kodak devices might be worth a damn, but it's far more likely they'll just be sad reminders of how much those little yellow boxes used to mean to us."

Poor Fluffy the Cat is really starting to smell...

Well done, Tony.

Ken

They are Ken but they look like something made by dissidents in the former East Germany http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/25/kodak-smartphone-bullitt/, they'll have to look a lot more sexy if they're going to actually sell any.

ambaker · Dec 27, 2014

Truzi said:
Perhaps they can license the name for toilet paper too - a brand we can trust

Brings a whole new meaning to, "You push the button. We do the rest."

Iconic names do not become iconic, nor stay iconic, by licensing out to any and every company that comes along.

AgX · Dec 27, 2014

There are threats to old brands:

-) Becoming a generic
What seems a benefit for the brand owner, only to have to hint at them being the original with all the expertise involved, can be legally tricky at least in Germany with the threat that due to generaliation the brand no longer is protected.

-) Becoming forgotten
Does someone now 15 or so still knows what Agfa means?
The brand Polaroid is more iconic, or rather a generic.

Another issue is that a branding that is too generously applied to consumer goods may interfere with a similar brand, as in the case of the current consumer brand AgfaPhoto and the industrial supplier Agfa.

Steve Smith · Dec 28, 2014

SchwinnParamount said:
Steve (Love you bro, but...) 1776 and again in 1814. Americans have earned the right to use the "z" instead of the Queen's "s".

Yes. Just don't call it English!

cmacd123 said:
Basically if you see a product in a store and it has a brand that you recognize it is probably made by someone else under licence.

If you see packs of Kodak branded AA batteries for sale, don't buy them. They come out of the packet already flat. They don't have enough energy to powerr anything for more than a few seconds.

Steve.

NJH · Dec 28, 2014

Westinghouse is a good example. I did some subcontracted work for part of the old Westinghouse company several years back
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Rail_Systems
...now all subsumed into Siemens.

Everyone remembered the name but recently couldn't think what on earth they did other than vague memories of seeing the name on fridges. Very few people seem to remember the guy who invented the railway air brake nigh on 150 years ago. Luckily things are not yet that bad for Kodak, pretty much everyone over the age of 30 I reckon knows who they are and why, their bigger problem is whether that is relevant or not any more.

Steve Smith · Dec 28, 2014

NJH said:
Westinghouse is a good example. I did some subcontracted work for part of the old Westinghouse company several years back
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Rail_Systems
...now all subsumed into Siemens.

Everyone remembered the name but recently couldn't think what on earth they did other than vague memories of seeing the name on fridges. Very few people seem to remember the guy who invented the railway air brake nigh on 150 years ago.

When I hear Westinghouse, the first thing I think of is railway air brakes. I think most of the country used vacuum brakes but all locomotives which made their way to the Isle of Wight were fitted with Westinghouse pumps.

This is all before my time but I learned about it at a young age when I was a volunteer at the local steam railway.

For those who don't have a clue what we are discussing, it was a steam powered air compressor.

Actually, a drawing isn't enough. You need to watch and listen to the glorious sound it makes...

[video=youtube;xZfWxiQ3Mhw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZfWxiQ3Mhw[/video]

Steve.

Old-N-Feeble · Dec 28, 2014

I can't remember where I bought this but I thought it was cute. It's a TP dispenser. It's not Kodak-branded but it's very reminiscent of the look of old Kodak Gold packaging. Just trying to keep in the spirit of things.

Oren Grad · Dec 28, 2014

AgX said:
So we got in that club:

Polaroid, AgfaPhoto and Kodak

Any more members?

Rollei seems to be well along the way.

Rick A · Dec 28, 2014

During my senior year of high school and summer vacation from college, I worked at a place called Motor Coils Mfg. We rebuilt electric motor windings for locomotive power plants. Our only competition at that time was Westinghouse in Erie Pa., where they make diesel locos. Motor Coils is now owned by Westinghouse Transportation, and still exists though not in the original facility where I worked. Karen and I were looking for the Westinghouse Museum near her home outside Pittsburgh, it no longer exists.

andrew.roos · Dec 28, 2014

Truzi said:
Perhaps they can license the name for toilet paper too - a brand we can trust

It could be graded from "0" for those who like it really soft, to "5" for those who like it much harder...

andrew.roos · Dec 28, 2014

Oren Grad said:
Rollei seems to be well along the way.

And Voigtlander, although at least it's ended up in a happier place (with Cosina) than most of the others.

AgX · Dec 28, 2014

But the Rollei and Voigtländer brand are only used for cameras (and projectors and films).

Dr Croubie · Dec 28, 2014

Old-N-Feeble said:
I can't remember where I bought this but I thought it was cute. It's a TP dispenser. It's not Kodak-branded but it's very reminiscent of the look of old Kodak Gold packaging. Just trying to keep in the spirit of things.

It would have looked a lot better if it were in a roll of Tech Pan.

NJH · Dec 28, 2014

Rick / Steve, thanks guys. Its funny I never used to care that much about trains but more recently have started to appreciate their role in our industrial heritage thanks to visits to the historic railways at Swanage and East Somerset. That and my wife loves traveling by train. Its odd little things you remember as well like the patterns BR used on the velour cloth on all the seats, moving down here also reminded me of Sealink, had completely forgotten about them a reminder of what was once an integrated transport system but is now pretty much an international joke. Even that word velour, what on earth happened to velour I really like velour. I was only 40 this year but so much I can remember, many good things got lost in the name of progress and changing fashions.

Steve Smith · Dec 28, 2014

NJH said:
Rick / Steve, thanks guys. Its funny I never used to care that much about trains but more recently have started to appreciate their role in our industrial heritage thanks to visits to the historic railways at Swanage and East Somerset.

I love the Swanage railway. I must visit again.

Down here we have the preserved steam railway and we have what remains of the old British Railways network (which is part of South West Trains) which uses sixty year old ex London underground trains.

Steve.

Christopher Walrath · Dec 28, 2014

Hey, why make film when you can make money instead, right? The new mode of business. That would be like having a community darkroom and paying the royalties to name it the Ansel Adams Studios (for example's sake).

We have actually seen restructuring somewhat similar in affect to this in the automotive aftermarket for a few years. We sell parts made by the manufacturing companies that comprise Federal Mogul. Now, some of the names are lower profile names. The name for chassis parts is Moog and most folks in the parts business have recognized that name for years. So Fed Mog simply moved a couple more brands under the Moog name for better brand recognition.

Truzi · Dec 28, 2014

Christopher Walrath said:
Hey, why make film when you can make money instead, right? The new mode of business. That would be like having a community darkroom and paying the royalties to name it the Ansel Adams Studios (for example's sake).

We have actually seen restructuring somewhat similar in affect to this in the automotive aftermarket for a few years. We sell parts made by the manufacturing companies that comprise Federal Mogul. Now, some of the names are lower profile names. The name for chassis parts is Moog and most folks in the parts business have recognized that name for years. So Fed Mog simply moved a couple more brands under the Moog name for better brand recognition.

Umm... being someone who has historically appreciated Moog auto parts, I hope the quality is at least the same. I've learned to be leery when companies change or license-out their names like this.

Christopher Walrath · Dec 28, 2014

Quality continues, rest assured. They have pulled National Bearings and Precision U-Joints into the fold. The only thing Federal Mogul cannot seem to get right, application-wise, is the Wagner Brake line (hardware, not friction). Fortunately we have old paper catalogs so that we can take the electronic info that is presently available and work our way around along a circuitous route to the correct part.

Alan Klein · Dec 28, 2014

Westinghouse has two time capsules in Queens, NYC, one buried during each of the World Fairs of 1939 and 1964. So when they open them in 5,000 years, as scheduled, Westinghouse will still be there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Time_Capsules

StoneNYC · Dec 28, 2014

All I know is I think it's a great product for a "family" style branded company and a good first step, if they could claim the lens used was made by kodak engineers that would be better.

Probably isn't, but it's got to be better than the batteries, which I've seen in stores, I only use rechargeable batteries so I haven't tried them.

winger · Dec 29, 2014

I know the name Moog as a synthesizer (music-related).

When you've got nothing else left, you've still got your name. (for some reason I think that comes from an old movie, but I don't know which or if it's just my imagination)

Truzi · Dec 29, 2014

I once had a CD with a movement from the Brandenburg Concertos that was performed on Moog synthesizers. I quite liked it.

Truzi · Dec 29, 2014

APUGuser19 said:
I kind of likes the synthesizer on Forbidden Planet, but it wasn't a Moog. They came along 10 years later.

Great movie. Notice the tubes they stood in for deceleration - later adopted as Star Trek's transporters (though the transporter is not unlike the disintegrator-reintegrator of The Fly).
I'm not sure if the theramin counts as a synthesizer.

I believe the instrument in Forbidden Planet's soundtrack was a theramin. A very good instrument:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin
I believe it won (or was at least nominated) for an award for "electronic" music at the time. I think that was the 1950s. It was a big deal back then, but before I was born. I thought it was funny watching late nite movies with Leslie Nielsen playing a serious role, as I was more familiar with him from Airplane and the like (not realizing that part of the humor was that he originally was a serious actor).

The Polariodization of Kodak

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