bmaxey1@juno.com
Date: 09/05/01-03:50:32 AM Z
>>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.
Right on the mark. Demand drives it all, regardless of how we feel.
>>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.
Kodachrome is not gone, and there are replacements for Super Double X
Film. In the old days, Kodak DID keep materials in their catalog for long
periods of time. Kodak kept 828 for example, long after there were
cameras available for the size. These days, things are different.
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.
You cant be guaranteed that anything any manufacturer makes will be with
us forever. It is money that drives this market - especially if there are
more competitors to take market share.
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