Kodak Invented The Future Then Buried It

Kodak invented the digital camera in 1975 — and then buried it to protect its film empire. This is the rise and fall of Kodak: from 90% market dominance and the "Kodak moment" to bankruptcy in 2012, and the single decision that doomed a 131-year-old giant. In 1975, a 24-year-old Kodak engineer named Steven Sasson built the world's first digital camera. Management's response? "That's cute — but don't tell anyone about it." Decades before anyone else, Kodak held the future in its hands — and was too afraid of it to let it out. Meanwhile, its mirror image on the other side of the world, Fujifilm, faced the exact same wave and survived. Why? A business documentary about the innovator's dilemma — and the hardest decision in business: destroying what you already have before someone else does it for you. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold Open 0:12 The Giant 1:54 The Invention 3:29 The Trap 4:57 The Slow Bleed 6:15 The Fall 7:31 What It Means 8:51 The Last Mistake Sources include reporting from The New York Times, BBC, S&P Global and academic case studies on Kodak's decline. All footage is licensed/public-domain stock, Wikimedia Commons (CC/PD), and original motion graphics; music is original instrumental.