<p>I guess you could call it a Kodak moment. On Tuesday, Sept. 3, Eastman Kodak Co., long the most recognized brand name in photography, emerged from bankruptcy. Because of photography pioneer George Eastman, the 1880 origins of Eastman Kodak strove, as Eastman said, "to make the camera as easy as the pencil." He succeeded, with the help of a burgeoning advertising industry, and trademarked in 1888 the brand name Kodak, a name he simply made up. The rest is consumer-products history.</p><p>Bloomberg News reported Kodak followed a plan to become much smaller eliminating 47,000 employees since 2003 and restructure the company. Businesses sold or spun off during the bankruptcy included digital and photographic film patents, photo kiosks, online photo-sharing, consumer printing and document scanners.</p><p>You know the story, of course. Because cameras are now digital, and most photos taken today are snapped with smartphones, film is passe. Consumer choice directed the evolution from film to digital by shunning the use of film and all of the machinations that went with it, including negatives, development, cumbersome storage, etc. Digital is simple, instant gratification. And I do mean instant. Seen a Polaroid lately?</p><p>The irony of the story is digital technology was developed in an Eastman Kodak applied research lab. From its discovery, the first digital camera appeared in 1974. And although Kodak developed the technology and invested billions of dollars in digital imaging, its business model failed to recognize and transition the foundation of the company into a brand that could claim the creation of a whole new category of imaging. Although Kodak knew it was in the memory-making business promoting advertising slogans including "America's Storyteller," "The Times of Your Life" and "Open Me First" they failed to understand how consumers ultimately wanted those memories to be captured, shared and stored. Kodak simply could not, or would not, adapt.</p><p><a href="http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/95034/kodak-and-the-writing-on-the-wall-craig-douglass-on-consumers">Keep reading...</a></p>