[Leica] Kodaks and Rochester's decline in pictures

[lrzeitlin at aol.com]

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