This is sad news. Eastman Kodak is ending production of Kodachrome, its colour film brand, because we have all gone digital. This recalls, of course, the Paul Simon song of the same name:

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colours
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away

I can see the necessity of ending mass production of Kodachrome, but I wonder whether there is not a niche analogue business there, along the lines of Polaroid and vinyl records.

The New York Times reported last month on the efforts of an Austrian entrepreneur to revive Polaroid film. Instant film is what the brand still stands for - I always thought the attempt to put the Polaroid name on televisions lacked credibility:

“This project is about building a very interesting business to last for at least another decade,” said Florian Kaps, the Austrian entrepreneur behind the effort. “It is about the importance of analog aspects in a more and more digital world.”

Meanwhile, there is still a thriving niche business in making vinyl records. The FT noted last year that Portalspace Records had bought EMI’s former vinyl record factory in Hayes, west London in order to keep on pressing discs.

I can read the writing on the wall, as Paul Simon sung in 1973, but surely someone can come up with a use for Kodachrome?

June 22, 2009 4:47pm in Technology | Comment