With manufacturing facilities in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, today's Kodak products are found nearly everywhere in the world. George Eastman, Kodak's founder, accomplished what he set out to do when quoted as saying: "The idea gradually dawned on me ...to make the camera as convenient as the pencil." From its origins of snap and click to the instant-view digital technology, the Kodak camera has and continues to evolve into an intricate part of our everyday lives.
History
Kodak, a name synonymous with cameras and photography, introduced the first "simple camera" to the world in 1888, and founder, George Eastman trademarked the Kodak name. The name was Eastman's idea, and he had no specific purpose or thing in mind when fashioning it, other than the letter K was his favorite, and he thought it to be a solid letter---he filled in the blanks between the two K's. From the home to outer space, Kodak continues to generate innovative processes and equipment related to imaging.
Time Frame
Kodak's history dates back to 1878 and the marketing of Kodak's digital technology began in 1990. The Kodak digital camera entered the market in 1995 with the Kodak DC40 point-and-shoot digital camera, along with the beginnings of its website. Leading the market in many industries, such as movies, health care, document management, printing and publishing and space technology, Kodak says it is "poised to create new ideas and applications---some of which we can't even imagine today."
Beginnings
Steve Sasson, inventor of the digital camera, pieced together his first "electronic still camera" in December 1975. This portable camera was a conglomeration of spare lens and other digital parts from old movie cameras and storerooms at Kodak labs. Its functionality was to take a still photograph by using a CCD imager and digitally recording the image without film, taking 23 seconds to capture the picture. The picture could be viewed with a device specifically designed to hold and playback the cassette that stored the digitized image.
Evolution
After pitching the idea to Kodak's "internal" people, Steve and the Kodak Apparatus Division Research Laboratory Group were successful in winning their favor on the idea of a digital camera---not expected to be ready for public sale for 15 to 20 years---and received a patent in 1978. This project, as Sasson recalls, did not stand out in the research group's mind as being the catalyst for the first digital camera, but in fact, was the prototype for its origin.
Interesting Facts
George Eastman dropped out of high school to help support his mother and sisters after his father died. Eastman was judged not very academically inclined, according to the standard of his day, and after building an empire that leads in digital technology today, he took his own life at the age of 77, because of a disability.
Tags: digital camera, digital technology, George Eastman, History Kodak, Kodak digital
