Destroying American Jobs (ie Kodak)

[tw]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

As well as the physical possession, I think there is some cognitive psychological advantage to using paper, but I can't be any clearer than that.

That is what so many thought five years ago. Then Amazon came out with the Kindle. Amazon now sells more books electronically than in paper.

Amazon saw the value of innovation long ago when others thought paper will remain the future. Kodak has the same buggy whip attitude.

To save American jobs, a Kodak bankruptcy should have happened ten years ago. Then maybe Kodak might have developed the next innovation in image processing - the Kindle. Kodak cannot do that when entrenched in a paper mentality. Curious. Those on Wall Street that protected Kodak also have a paper profits attitude.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

We tried to get secretaries to use first one kind of "Appointments" software, then another.

They would not give up their "little black books", until...

The hospital implemented it's own multi-$K system, and told the staff
they "had to use it"... because it linked into the Billing Dept.

And when the systems went down and their nice lil programs weren't accessible?
Thats right, those old school paper things saved the day.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by tw

To save American jobs, a Kodak bankruptcy should have happened ten years ago. Then maybe Kodak might have developed the next innovation in image processing - the Kindle. Kodak cannot do that when entrenched in a paper mentality. Curious. Those on Wall Street that protected Kodak also have a paper profits attitude.

Are Kindles made in the US? Cuz Kodak printers sure aren't. They're from China all the way and very poorly made at that. To my regret, I bought a Kodak printer some months back (coming from the time of papyrus, I still like to print things out). I had it for 2 or 3 months when it suddenly decided to stop printing in color.

I did all the trouble shooting I could on my own, and when I couldn't fix it, I got onto Kodak's help site which promised real chat with a Kodak help desk person. Who was very polite and from India. OK. Machine made in China, help desk staffed from the Indian sub-continent. (I would like to know in what way Kodak should still be called an "American" company).

Anyway, Deepchok asked me a bunch of questions and finally told me that my problem was due to a recent paper jam on my printer which had damaged the print head. The thing can be damaged by a single paper jam? What? At least Deepchok said he would send me a new print head for free, and that I should have no trouble installing it.

Right. Now, I am not a complete computer klutz. I'm not afraid to do simple stuff like add more memory or an external drive, etc. But that damn print head was impossible. On top of that, the thingy that holds the printer open - kind of like the thingy that holds the hood on your car open - is made of very brittle plastic and it snapped. Since the printer seems only to be able to run if the thingy is in the exact right spot, that Kodak printer STILL won't run, even though I did get the print head in correctly.

I have no idea why Wall Street or anyone else would throw money at Kodak printers. Mine is hands down the worst piece of computer equipment I have ever owned.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by tw

That is what so many thought five years ago. Then Amazon came out with the Kindle. Amazon now sells more books electronically than in paper.

That is a different product.

We were talking about office printers. No one prints a novel to read. Office printers are used to print things like meeting agendas, minutes, annual reports, contracts, things like that, which are not read passively like a novel but studied and marked with a pen.

The printing of these things is still increasing. See Merc's post.

Your "buggy whip" comments remind me of that (possibly mythical) quote that someone said to Henry Ford in about 1920, to stop messing about with gas engines because pretty soon everything will be electric. Maybe one day, but it's further off than you think.

[tw]

AT&T pioneered the transistor, Telstar, laser, Unix OS, advanced programming languages, telecommunications, cell phones, submarine optical communication, digital switching, and even what is now a standard option for all homes - telephone, internet, and broadcasting all on one cable. The so called "Triple Play". Instead, AT&T management either stifled the innovation, refused to upgrade, or simply sold off a crown jewel so that a money losing operation could claim a few more years of profit. Even the Bell Labs are owned by people more innovative - the French. Eventually all that was left was their wireless business. To avert bankruptcy, AT&T sold itself to Southwest Bell. Purchased mostly for its name.

General Motors played the same game for over 30 years. Selling or mortgaging everything to claim profits that really did not exist. Then blamed the government, economy, unions, Japanese, taxes, and anything else they could rather than admit business school graduates design bad cars. The Volt and Camaro being latest examples.

As paper becomes less desirable and popular (in books, newspapers, Postal service, business records, financial transactions, currency, etc), some companies would rather reinvent the paper printing industry. Why are so many once American institutions simply mortgaging themselves over the past 20 and 35 years rather than innovate? Major changes in how American business works and the resulting diminished productivity take that long to finally appear on spread sheets.

A company that invented the digital camera - and could not bother to profit from it - now only has patents left. Meanwhile, it stupidly thinks it will become profitable by making paper printers. Nobody is offering to buy their only remaining assets - patents.

From the Washington Post of 4 Jan 2012:

Wall Street Journal report says Kodak might file for bankruptcy in coming weeks
An uncomfortable suspicion that an icon of American business may have no future pushed investors to dump stock in Eastman Kodak Co. Wednesday.

The ailing photography pioneer's shares fell to a new all-time low after the Wall Street Journal reported that Kodak is preparing for a Chapter 11 filing "in the coming weeks" should it fail to sell a trove of 1,100 digital-imaging patents.

Analysts have said the patents could fetch $2 billion to $3 billion, but no takers have emerged since Kodak started shopping them around in July.

In November, the 131-year-old company said it could run out of cash in a year if it didn't sell the patents. Even as it looked to a future rooted in its emerging printer business, the company was reporting a third-quarter loss of $222 million - its ninth quarterly loss in three years - and it said its cash reserves had fallen 10 percent in three months.

A company with management educated by the same people who educated George Jr will even deny they are harming America. Eventually, even Wall Street must stop denying reality. After all, any company foolishly turning to paper as its future can only be daft.

Kodak was kept alive by a Wall Street that will lend to buggy whip industries rather than to innovative ones. It is good for Kodak to sell its last remaining asset so that Kodak can claim a few more years of profits? Another money game so popular since 1980. A patriotic Wall Street would have demanded that Kodak get into some innovative business.

Even digital cameras (first developed and then all but abandoned by Kodak) are no longer a growth industry.

The New York Stock Exchange warned Kodak this week that its shares would be "delisted" - or dropped from the exchange's listings - if they stay below $1 for six more months.

Eastman Kodak was selling on 4 Jan 'after hours' for $0.44 per share. Less than half of what the stock sold for over 100 years ago.

Of course, someone might fire their president. It took Obama to fire GM's only problem. But Wall Street, that could, will only enrich themselves at the expense of workers and the nation. Money can be made by prolonging existing decay. It is how Wall Street now works. Massive profits at the expense of workers and all other Americans.

Kodak's only future is in a business that has now started a slow decline. Is no longer a growth industry. What was clearly a growth industry 30 years ago is now following telegraphs, tape recorders, and vacuum tubes.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I was talking with my solidly Republican, big business, small government, brother at Christmas. We were talking about the state of the nation and politics, when out of the blue he says, "The trouble with this country is MBAs". He couldn't understand why I laughed.

[tw]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Office printers are used to print things like meeting agendas, minutes, annual reports, contracts, things like that, which are not read passively like a novel but studied and marked with a pen.

Decades previous paper has moved on to smart phones, electronic calendars, tablets, and products yet to be developed. Companies such as Kodak hoped to profit by reinventing old technology products. Kodak is now bankrupt and delisted from the NY Stock exchange.

FujiFilm also had Kodak's problem. So it moved from buggy whip products to new technologies. For example, flat LCD screens (new technologies) have a wider viewing angle because FujiFilm innovated. Fujifilm also shifted into high tech chemicals.

An innovative Kodak would be making 3D printers. Or tablets. Or 3D movie technology. Or advanced optics and masks necessary for producting seminconductor and MEMs devices. Not possible in many American companies (not just Kodak) with a buggy whip mentality. As a result, America now another problem. A shortage of people with technical abilities necessary to innovate.

NY Times discusses a larger problem created by so many big American companies with Kodak’s attitude. Apple management defines the problem with examples.

[tw]

From the NY Times of 21 Jan 2012:

How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States? ...

Why can't that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.

Mr. Jobs's reply was unambiguous. "Those jobs aren't coming back," he said, according to another dinner guest.

The president's question touched upon a central conviction at Apple. It isn't just that workers are cheaper abroad. Rather, Apple's executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that "Made in the U.S.A." is no longer a viable option for most Apple products. ...


[In 2007] Mr. Jobs angrily held up his iPhone, ... People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. "I won't sell a product that gets scratched," he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. ...

After one executive left that meeting, he booked a flight to Shenzhen, China. If Mr. Jobs wanted perfect, there was nowhere else to go. ...


The answers, almost every time, were found outside the United States. Though components differ between versions, all iPhones contain hundreds of parts, an estimated 90 percent of which are manufactured abroad. Advanced semiconductors have come from Germany and Taiwan, memory from Korea and Japan, display panels and circuitry from Korea and Taiwan, chipsets from Europe and rare metals from Africa and Asia. And all of it is put together in China. ...

"The entire supply chain is in China now," said another former high-ranking Apple executive. "You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That's the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours." ...


An eight-hour drive from that glass factory is a complex, known informally as Foxconn City, where the iPhone is assembled. To Apple executives, Foxconn City was further evidence that China could deliver workers - and diligence - that outpaced their American counterparts.

That's because nothing like Foxconn City exists in the United States. ...

Another critical advantage for Apple was that China provided engineers at a scale the United States could not match. ...

Apple executives believe there simply aren't enough American workers with the skills the company needs or factories with sufficient speed and flexibility. Other companies that work with Apple, like Corning, also say they must go abroad. ...

"We shouldn't be criticized for using Chinese workers," a current Apple executive said. "The U.S. has stopped producing people with the skills we need."