[Leica] Kodaks and Rochester's decline in pictures

[csaganich at gmail.com (CJ andS)]

I think Jane Jacobs in her book The Economy of Cities uses Rochester as an
example (I don't have the book here to check the reference) of how a once
thriving diversity of manufacturing and economy (as Larry describes) was
reduced to monoculture by Kodak corporate policy (only Xerox seemed to
survive the wrath of Kodak in Rochester which is explained by their
relatively non-competitiveness with Kodak products).  Once film sales
tanked there was no longer a diversity of manufacturing infrastructure that
might have taken-up the slack with new digital products or other high tech
initiatives.  Once these resources, which had been growing and diversifying
for 50 or 60 years, have been demolished in smaller cities the prospect for
revival is nearly zero.


On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 12:23 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Larry, Thanks for the info. I have been to Rochester, to meet the CFOs of
> Kodak and Bausch & Lomb, long ago in 1988, when I was working for Citibank.
> Don't remember too much of the place - it was a day trip from New York.
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On 22-Jul-2014, at 9:25 pm, Larry Zeitlin via LUG <lug at 
> > leica-users.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > Jayanand,
> > Interesting and very true piece on Rochester. For several decades
> Rochester was the center of the optical industry in the USA. Not only Kodak
> but Haloid (now Xerox), Bausch and Lomb, and a number of other optical
> companies were located in or near Rochester. Even before that Rochester was
> a center of agriculture and was originally known as the Flour City. The
> climate is hot in summer, cold in winter, and damp all the time. The
> proximity to Lake Ontario produces deep drifts of "lake effect" snow in
> frigid weather. The profitability of the optical industry and the
> benevolence of it's owners pumped tons of money into charitable
> institutions, hospitals, and education. Rochester often rated high on the
> list of the best places to live in the USA.
> >
> > I am biased, of course. I have relatives who live in the city and its
> suburbs. Many of the horse racing pictures on my LUG gallery were taken at
> the nearby Finger Lakes race track and two of my children went to Cornell
> University. I was also a consultant (and a stockholder) of Kodak. But
> Kodak's decline threw a wrench into the gears. Employment dropped by nearly
> 75%. Beautiful homes are now cheap, probably the lowest price in NY state.
> Film, the company's cash cow, was to provide income for 20 years. Instead
> film sales dropped 90% in 7 years. And this was the company that invented
> digital photography. Bad, bad management judgment calls. Kodak's stock
> dropped from $88 per share to bankruptcy levels. Even Kodak executives use
> their iPhones to take pictures.
> >
> > Leica, are you listening? The world is changing. See Jayanand's post for
> pictorial details.
> >
> > Larry Z
> >
> > - - -
> > http://www.themorningnews.org/gallery/kodak-city
> >
> > Cheers
> > Jayanand
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
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-- 
Chris Saganich
www.imagebrooklyn.com