Kodak Ektra

In 1888 Kodak brought the first camera for consumers on the market. For decades photography was unthinkable without Kodak, but the company overslept the digital revolution and went almost bancrupt in 2012. The Harvard professor Clayton Christensen calls it the "innovator‘s dilemma". Corporations for too long defend old business models. Instead of investing into their future and consequently reinventing themselves, they are defending what they have created in the past. Kodak‘s story of demise can be read as narrative thread of the digital revolution. The American company nearby New York became rich with the invention of the photographic film and the small image format. However with the boom of digital cameras and smart phones the company finally sank into insignificance.

Ironically Kodak invented the technology of the first digital camers in the 1970s. The company hid its invention and patents instead of pushing them to the next level. The responsible persons were afraid that the new product would destroy their core business with photo films. They saw the disaster coming, but they did not act. Now Kodak is back with the Smartphone Kodak EKTRA. The focus of the product lies on the camera, but still has all functions of a smartphone. Kodak finally reacts on the fact that only a few people are carrying cameras with them. Everybody is taking pictures with their smart phones. I hope that the Kodak EKTRA is finally an alternative to the Apple iPhone – especially for passionate photographers.

Bild: Kodak EKTRA