Kodak Digital Camera

1888-2012

When Kodak invented the digital camera back in 1975 they didn’t know that it would ultimately lead to their bankruptcy. The DC-40 (seen here) was one of the first digital cameras for the consumer market. It was enthusiastically embraced, too enthusiastically perhaps… Despite the rapid pace of technological innovation, Kodak stubbornly refused to change their business model. They insisted on making their money from printing photos. The company’s failure was not fully embracing the emerging digital revolution, where sharing photos was more important than printing them. Kodak went bankrupt in 2012, the same year Instagram was sold to Facebook for $1 billion.

Additional info:

Harvard Business Review - Kodak’s Downfall Wasn’t About Technology