From: Don Nelson (ulformat@teleport.com)
Date: 09/03/01-11:43:17 PM Z
"> >Guy said in his message... [cut]
> >OK Guy, I'll take your bait:
"
You lament the fact that Kodak is in business to provide a good rate of return for their shareholders (that's what shareholders
want, not availability of some low volume film items that Kodak is discontinuing.). They don't operate to lose money or provide low
rates of return for their shareholders. If you want to change this, buy up the company! It only takes 51% (by the way, you will
have to file with the SEC when you acquire 10% of the company's stock)
">
> I think that the company does have a responsibility to support its less
> profitable products, though it may be that those would have to be available
> less frequently, and on a special order basis perhaps.
"
You are certainly entitled to your own thinking. Too bad the world of business does operate in this fashion.
No company, including Kodak, has a responsibility to continue ANY product if they can make a higher rate of return for their
shareholders by providing some other more competitive product.
Kodak has for years discontinued low volume products --- take for example Super-XX. A fantastic film. Nothing currently on the
market from any vendor comes close. You cannot even special order as the coating machinery has gone away (yes, they used something
other than the TMAX coating line... You'd still need to mix and age the emulsion in a low radiation environment for 6-9 months
before coating -- thats why Kodak uses the salt mines (and to provide secure storage for the world's largest stockpile of silver!))
They have a published strategy of discontinuing a certain number of the lowest-volume film and chemical products each year. This
year it happens to include Pro Copy Film....
"> It is precisely because of Kodak's policy to remove products from the
> marketplace that I have switched nearly all of my film, paper and chemical
> purchases to other manufacturers. The only products of Kodak's I still
> continue to buy are TriX and Portra (regrettably because they discontinued
> Vericolor.). If I can be assured that their products will remain in the
> marketplace, I will support the company with my purchases. "
You're making the right choice as a consumer (Consumers have no responsibility to continue buying any product either. Its part of
the rules of capitalism!).
Be assured that Kodak does not miss your purchases at the small volumes you buy. What does happen is that in aggregate this
accelerates the move from Kodak out of the chemical film era and into the pixel-based market (they may not make this transition ---
look at the reports from the brokerage houses). Be assured that if TriX and Portra are the last two chemical based items on the
list, Kodak will close up shop. So better buy your TriX in volume now and freeze it....
And if you think Ilford and Fuji will not start discontinuing products as the move to digital accelerates, think again....
PPS for those of you that do not know, WWI killed the availability of Platinum from Russia, so Platinum papers disappeared. As for
Wet Plate --- its still around because it does not require any specialized equipment (like coating modern films does), but the
introduction of faster dry plates killed off this technology for the masses (who really didn't want etherized gun cotton -- which
was flammable and explosive).
PPS Think about what happened to the gas plants in each city when electric lighting happened...how about steam-driven
automobiles?...Wanna get your buggy whip recovered?...been wanting a corset for your significant other?... what about the rotary
phone?....wanna find a mechanic for the Wankel Engine you bought in the 1970's?...wonder why they are taking the phones off the
airplanes now(See Southwest Airlines, others to follow suite as their service provider went out of business last week)?....do you
ever pine for one of those early portable phones the size of a breadbox with the handset on top?....Want your cellphone provider to
keep analog cell phone options alive indefinitely?....still trying to get someone socially responsible for writing new games for
that Atari you bought?....the list goes on. Technology changes and the companies that provided the obsolete technology morph into
something new or die off. It has nothing to do with "the responsibility for supporting their less profitable products" Its simply
business. Those businesses that provide good returns for their shareholders do well...those that do not, will disappear. Its a
shame that the granolas don't understand.
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Huczek" <ghuczek@sk.sympatico.ca>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Cc: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001 6:46 PM
Subject: Re: Kodak Drops Pro Copy Film
> At 04:23 PM 03/09/2001 -0400, FDanB@aol.com wrote:
> >
> >Guy said in his message... [cut]
> >OK Guy, I'll take your bait:
> >
> >Whom have you blamed for the demise of wet plates and pre-coated platinum
> >papers? Correct me if I'm taking your "you killed it" comment the wrong
> >way but I can't help but think you're behaving in an historically daft
> >manner by making that kind of accusation.
>
> Kodak's bean counters are more interested in the bottom line than they are
> about supporting some segments of the photographic community. Some of
> Kodak's excellent products were discontinued because their market share for
> them was dwindling.
>
> I think that the company does have a responsibility to support its less
> profitable products, though it may be that those would have to be available
> less frequently, and on a special order basis perhaps. I can think of many
> of their products - Kodachrome, Super XX, -- you can add your own
> discontinued favorites to the list -- which had a small but very loyal
> group of users who were upset when these products were taken off the market.
>
> It is precisely because of Kodak's policy to remove products from the
> marketplace that I have switched nearly all of my film, paper and chemical
> purchases to other manufacturers. The only products of Kodak's I still
> continue to buy are TriX and Portra (regrettably because they discontinued
> Vericolor.). If I can be assured that their products will remain in the
> marketplace, I will support the company with my purchases. And if enough
> photographers decide to boycott Kodak and its products because they
> discontinue materials, then perhaps the company could be persuaded to offer
> better support to a small but dedicated group of users who they
> disenfranchise every time they pull a product from the consumer.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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