Kodak may be going under, but apparently they could have started their own nuclear war if they wanted, just six years ago. Down in a basement in Rochester, NY, they had a nuclear reactor loaded with 3.5 pounds of enriched uranium — the same kind they use in atomic warheads.
After being purchased by the photo-hosting site Shutterfly for $US23.8m last month, one-time giant Kodak will take its Kodak Gallery offline for good, July 2. Users of the image-hosting service were notified today by email, along with a request to please notify Kodak no later than May 28 if they wish to have their photos migrated over to Shutterfly’s servers.
Apple has been pursuing a patent lawsuit against Kodak over the rights to its LCD screen previews used in its digital cameras, printers and digital picture frames. But with Kodak in Chapter 11, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allen Gropper has ordered Apple to back off, putting current lawsuits on hold and blocking any further legal action until Kodak has sorted out its financial issues..
Is it even possible to beneficially sue a company that by definition hasn’t really got any money? Apple seems to think so — it’s seeking to sue Kodak for patent infringement.
The news that Kodak is pulling out of the hardware market — excepting printers — for good means that, effectively, Kodak is dead. Is this the death knell for the compact digital?
Just a few weeks after filing for bankruptcy, Kodak says it will stop producing digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames in the first half of 2012. The move will reportedly save Kodak $US100 million a year.
Kodak’s decision to stop producing Kodachrome film in 2009 left a hole in people’s nostalgia-seeking hearts. This documentary short by Xander Robin takes us into Dwayne’s Photo, the last remaining lab to develop the coveted film.
Despite its recent strategy of “sue everybody for everything,” Kodak has succumb to its financial pressures and filed for Chapter 11 business reorganization in New York. The iconic photography company isn’t dead yet, however, just very broke.
With the shift to digital cameras, old-fashioned photomats are getting harder and harder to find. But this portable, Army-issue dark room has everything you need to develop your own prints wherever you are.
There aren’t many details available yet, but Bloomberg is reporting that Kodak is suing Apple over four patent claims. Is it a last ditch effort for the near-bankrupt company to keep its head above water? Or a justified defence from a company with generations of intellectual property to its name? Well, both, probably.