Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/07/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]B.D. and Don, I've been around the technology business long enough to know that there's always another wave of innovation just over the horizon. Kodak, if they are able to pick their collective heads up and focus on the future, have the cash reserves to invest deeply in bringing innovation to market and if they've bet right, get first adopter's rights to the spoils. All of the initiatives you've described below are most likely too little, too late - an attempt by a late-to-market dinosaur to successfully trade on its eroding brand value. Taking market share from well-entrenched competitors without a dominant price:performance argument is a fool's errand. In my experience, there's not much point in trying to perpetuate market position by scavenging for scraps with also-ran partners; that's a bottom feeder's game that produces thin margins and high inventories. If it's at all possible, the company needs bold re-invention from top-of-market to the bottom, in order to recover its lost brilliance. I know they tried with APS, but it was WAY too late; perhaps 2 decades! IBM has reinvented itself and Xerox did it, too. HP's in the middle of doing it and Microsoft's done it three times in 25 years! It can be done, but not without bold moves and major surgery to excise the useless weight that Kodak has no doubt collected along the way. Len Leonard J Kapner E-Mail: ljkapner@cox.net Tel: (310) 377-5060 / Mobile: (310) 291-0140 -- -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+ljkapner=cox.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+ljkapner=cox.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Don Dory Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 7:41 PM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] Analog v. Digital B.D. Kodak has just announced a joint marketing agreement with Lexar to brand Lexar media as Kodak. I suspect that this is way too late as the brand does not bring anything special to the table, oh yea, yellow color. You will see initial claims of success as the supply chain is filled, but filling up Kodak stores with merchandise that never turns just ties up inventory dollars to the detriment of the bottom line. Part of Kodak's restructuring statement included the desire to get into the inkjet market by teaming up with Lexmark. Oh, yeah, teaming up with number five or six in the printer market seams like a great idea. Maybe you can compete by offering the low price. Fuji has been branding media cards for a while now and is in fact the patent holder and manufacturer of XD format cards so they might get some traction there. At least they make some/all of their own cards the branding makes some sense. Both companies really missed the ink jet market and are just now trying to get in that market. I am not sure that with the head start of Epson, Canon, and HP that either of them will gain much market share. Don dorysrus@mindspring.com -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of B. D. Colen Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 1:36 PM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] Analog v. Digital And a sensible thought....One has to wonder why Kodak isn't cleaning up with a wide line of digital printing paper...and Kodak CF cards...Watching them not corner these markets is a bit like watching Polaroid fail to see digital as the future of "instant imaging." After all, wouldn't all the folks who used Kodak film have been inclined to use Kodak digital capture media? And wouldn't those who grew up using Kodak chemical and papers have been inclined to use Kodak papers? -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Leonard J Kapner Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 11:36 AM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] Analog v. Digital B.D. Yeah, if I were in product management at Fuji and Kodak, worried about life-support of my consumer markets, I'd get busy building the most amazing range of amateur and professional digital printing consumables, surrender high ground in image capture commodities to the pixel crowd, and win the war on the back end, with the brand cache and marketing muscle that I have in abundance. Just a thought... ;-) Len -- -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+ljkapner=cox.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+ljkapner=cox.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of B. D. Colen Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 7:47 AM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] Analog v. Digital Ah, here we go, wandering off down the Yellow LUGroad. Digital smidgital - I would submit that what we're really talking about is electronic image capture v. film image capture: using the first process the image - light - passes through the lens, strikes an electronic sensor, and is converted to electrical impulses and stored electronically; using the second, the image, light, passes through the lens and strikes and exposes a piece of film, creating what will become a negative of the image - or a positive in the case of a slide, and is "stored" on the film itself. And "digital" printing is, of course, either inkjet printing, dye sublimation, or some other specific form of printing that converts the electronic impulses captured by the camera to colors on paper. But someone, at some point, decided that "electronic" was pass? and oh-so-50s, and that "digital" was a more marketable term, and, besides, it was one people could come to understand in terms of watches and clocks - digital is modern and up-to-date, analogue is old-fashioned and stodgy. JustMHO.... :-) B. D. -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Frank Dernie Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 10:15 AM To: Leica Users Group Subject: Re: [Leica] Analog v. Digital And of course conversely film images are made up of grain clumps so are in that sense digital. I remember digital being explained by this analogy by some teachers, with the point being that if there are sufficient small units the picture becomes indistinguishable from continuous tones so in any digital system there can be an adequate sample rate at which the digital becomes indistinguishable from continuous. This does not, of course solve the thorny question over where this sampling rate lies! Frank On 14 Jul, 2004, at 12:35, Buzz Hausner wrote: > Perhaps I am alone in the belief that analogue is not the opposite of > digital. Both film and digital reproduction produce analogies of > three dimensional scenes and objects on a two dimensional surface. > Thus, they are both a form of analogue reproduction. The earlier > definitions of analogies refer to different biological organs and > organisms that serve the same function. It should be sufficient to > refer to film and digital > formats. On the other hand, I do not wish to take up the definition of > digital which, in my opinion, is used inappropriately for photography > and just about everything else, save the digital watch. > > Buzz Hausner > > -----Original Message----- > From: lug-bounces+buzz.hausner=verizon.net@leica-users.org > [mailto:lug-bounces+buzz.hausner=verizon.net@leica-users.org] On > Behalf Of Philippe Orlent > Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:31 AM > To: Leica Users Group > Subject: Re: [Leica] Reality Check re: Digital vs Film vs Cost > > I'm not saying that analog will disappear completely, but I do think > that it will become a medium used by a minority of people, who will be > paying a lot > more for it than they do now. > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information