How Kodak dropped the digital ball
By the mid1980s—just about 100 years after George Eastman invented paper-based film—my father was already voicing concerns about Kodak’s future. The digital revolution was sparking, and he wasn’t seeing signs that Kodak knew exactly what to do about it. Instead of focusing its strategic attention on the emerging digital technologies, Kodak was making odd maneuvers, like acquiring pharmaceutical giant Sterling Drugs for $5.1 billion and trying to establish a brand in the battery business. David Di Salvo on a family story of what happens when large companies fail to spot a handbrake turn in technology.
