What other household name can we think of other then Kodak who consistently brings new and convenient technology to the masses. Well, since 1878 Kodak has been doing just that. Earlier this week Kodak took another step forward by introducing their EASYSHARE Digital Picture Frames.
Here’s the EASYSHARE picture frame, but lets take a look back at the top 12 milestones the average consumer would care about (not industrial advancements) THEN we’ll get to the picture frame:
1878 – George Eastman developed a method for dry gelatin photo plates and a year later invented an emulsion coating machine to mass produce these dry photo plates.
1881 – Built the business big enough to move into a four story building at 343 State Street, Rochester NY where even today remains to be the world headquarters.
1885 – Developed photographic “film” as we know it today.
1898 – Introduced the Folding Pocket Kodak Camera; considered to be the granddaddy of all film cameras as the format size remained an industry standard until 1997. Two years later, the Brownie Camera was introduced. A $1 camera which used $0.15 cent rolls of film. Photography for the masses.
1923 – Kodak made amateur motion pictures using their 16mm film as example and sales tools. This was an international success and thus created processing labs throughout the world – Kodak was global. They added color to film several years later, 1928.
1962 – Company passed the $1 Billion mark in yearly sales. WOW.
1965 – Kodak developed the Instamatic cameras where a photographer could take four flash pictures without charging the flashbulbs.
1972 – My first camera, Kodak introduced five Instamatic cameras that where smaller in size and easier to port around, based on the 110 film cartridge. It was so popular that 25 million units where made and sold in under 3 years.
1990 – The Kodak Photo CD was introduced and could play on TVs and computers. Two years later Kodak introduced a writable CDR.
1995 – Kodak went on-line with their Kodak.com website.
2001 – The EASYSHARE product line was introduced and their new slogan “Share Moments. Share Life.” came to life, since film photo sales where dropping – this was their new line of digital cameras. A couple years later the Kodak PERFECT TOUCH was introduced which was Kodak’s answer to turning digital photos into tangible pictures via personal printers.
2003 – Kodak revamped their strategy and launched their digitally oriented business model.
So back to the article and product at hand. No the EASYSHARE picture frame is not a huge technological advancement, but I thought it a good symbol of what Kodak is doing today verse where they started oh so many years ago.
First, as any Kodak buff would expect the digital picture frame display is fine tuned to Kodak color standards then stack on some savvy features like MP3 capability to sooth the sole of those fond memories scrolling though the EASYSHARE. Next, bring pictures to life with the frame’s capability to play MPEG 1, 4, MOV and AVI files then funnel those joyous moments through the built-in stereo speakers – load these formats up via CF, SD, MMC, xD, MS or interface via USB. And if this isn’t enough then connect via Wi-Fi and zoom, rotate, crop and print from included remote control.
There are four sizes to be ready for purchase in March. 10 and 8 inch Wi-Fi frames or 8 and 7 inch standard frames. Pricing ranges from $280 to $135 respectively. Kodak – you’ve come a long way since 1878, good job.
Source: GetFlashMemory.info, Kodak History
