Polaroid, Nikon & Kodak

Running along the Charles River in Boston some time in 2000, I came across the former headquarters of the Polaroid company. By that time, this purveyor of instant film and cameras was already history. Having had recently finished the book, Land’s Polaroid (about the formation of this company based on a truly groundbreaking invention) the dead company whose building was in front of me was startling.

Next comes the announcement a couple of weeks ago that Nikon is joining Canon in “deemphasizing” (i.e., abandoning) the film camera business in favor of digital. Now comes yesterday’s press release that Kodak’s digital sales last year came in at 54% of gross revenues, which is the first time in the company’s history that digital revenue exceeded their revenues from film. Kodak also reported that total losses for 2006 could exceed $1 billion.

Perhaps I’ll be running in Buffalo, NY in the future and cruise by the abandoned Kodak headquarters.