>>why Kodak didn't buy SanDisk<< John, it was a classic example of executives being unable to free themselves from the old notions that film would never be replaced, combined with a business model where Kodak would always act as the intermediary in the developing and printing of photos. The slogan coined by George Eastman before 1900 (You press the button. We do the rest.) became the heart of a culture that couldn't adjust to the camera user doing everything from taking the photo to making the print.
Every digital strategy adopted by Kodak was designed to allow Kodak to take a cut of the users money for printing or slide shows, or whatever. It dawned on Kodak only too late that digital technology was so advanced that a non-technical user could still get wonderful prints and slides from a digital image WITHOUT Kodak involvement at all.
In the time it took for Kodak to realize it must be a major player in digital, it gave up its leadership in sensors to the Japanese, gave up its camera making to a medium quality Japanese company, and declined to take an equity position in the leading flash company (SanDisk) when the largest shareholder, Seagate Technology, was selling its position to raise cash to go private. If you talked with some of the now retired Kodak managers and executives, as I have, you would understand immediately why the company was so reluctant to move into digital and why it may never be more than just another player in a field dominated by the likes of Nikon, Canon, Sony, Samsung, SanDisk, and Hewlett Packard. One innovative product that Kodak developed--the organic light emitting diode--still does not appear on any Kodak cameras in the U.S., and is likely not to appear until other companies, such as Olympus, have brought out products. Once again, too little, too late.
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