Bob Smith wrote: >...How can you say they've missed the boat.......They are and have been one of the genuine leaders in digital technology for many years. Its not however the sort of thing that's obvious to consumers in the way that yellow boxes of film are.
Bob, You are absolutely correct. However, for many years now Kodak have been in a shrinking volume market including movie film with commensurate costs, which cannot cover or be covered by the digital technology that they have pioneered. Being of late from Hemel Hempstead, I have witnessed the enormous demise of the company and its effects on that town, from at one time being by far the largest employer in the area, providing work for over four thousand people, to a headquarters employing a few hundred people. This is also not obvious to consumers. They still have a long way to go to balance the books. Something similar happened to a very famous and prestigious British car manufacturing company. A bitter pill to swallow when it became a German car company. Both the name and its history couldn't save it from what it required - a radical change of direction. Shangara wrote: >....A cinematographer *probably* consumes as much film in 3 months of shooting as 100 photographers in a lifetime. The volumes are irrelevant, even in the film industry, where volumes are down. A similar situation arises in air travel. Roughly speaking, a jumbo jet uses more fuel on take off than a medium sized car does in three years and look at the state of some air lines. In other words, however much it costs to run your company, you still have to maintain an appropriate market share to produce a profit. Kodak have not done this for some while now. What is required is a radical new business plan that changes forever the Kodak that we know at present. That would probably mean downsizing again, firstly the American headquarters and then secondly, incorporating all the European operation into Stuttgart and its Far Eastern operation into Shanghai. Probably, not a palatable or easy thing to do. Kindest regards Norman Childs Mobile: +44(0)7831 519217 Tel: +44(0)1256 767611 Fax: +44(0)1256 767612 Website: http://www.greenshoots.co.uk =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
