Can the collapse of a massive corporation such as Kodak represent something good? In this episode of Johan Norberg’s New and Improved, Norberg recounts the history of film and how it exemplifies the tug of war between innovation and stagnation.
In 2012, the 120 year old camera-film giant Kodak declared bankruptcy after failing to anticipate the disruptive effect that digital cameras would have on the film market. The irony: the first handheld digital camera was invented at Kodak but dismissed as a gimmick.
The history of film illustrates the power of creative destruction. When the prevailing norms and towering giants of the day begin to stagnate, it is only a matter of time before new innovations suddenly and brilliantly cast them aside.
SUGGESTED READING
James Dyson, Robert Uhlig, The Mammoth Book of Great Inventions
Claudia H. Deutsch, At Kodak, Some Old Things Are New Again
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/technology/02kodak.html
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Learn more about Johan Norberg’s New and Improved and sign up to receive series updates at https://www.freetochoosenetwork.org/newandimproved/.
Follow Johan Norberg on Twitter @JohanKNorberg
Johan Norberg is an author, lecturer, and documentary filmmaker, born in Sweden. He is Executive Editor at Free To Choose Media as well as a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C. and the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels. He received his M. A. in the History of Ideas from the University of Stockholm.
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