Jessy Bains
Biz/Tech Reporter

On Jan. 19, the iconic Eastman Kodak Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to lagging sales and changing technology.

Rubina Ahmed-Haq, a business journalist for Moneyville.ca, said despite the company’s declining fortunes, recent developments do not necessarily mean the end for Kodak.

“Typically a company would file for Chapter 11 if they’re having trouble paying their debts and want to buy themselves more time,” she said.

Anne Zbitnew, a Humber photography instructor and professional photographer, said the company failed to anticipate that people would start using their phones as cameras, as well as the convenience of multi-use devices instead of point and shoot cameras.

“Because Kodak had its hands in many pots—making film, making photo paper, photo processing, a lot of stuff having to do with film—that’s what brings them down faster,” said Zbitnew.

She also cited online photo sharing sites such as Facebook and Flickr as factors in Kodak’s financial problems.

“Not that long ago you would get your pictures developed and you would get them all printed at the photo lab and that’s something everybody did,” said Zbitnew. “Now I don’t know a lot of people that really print anything anymore.”

Michael Gilman, a Humber film, television and broadcast technician said that while the college currently uses Kodak motion picture film to shoot studio dramas, that may change in the future.

“Video is just so much easier,” said Gilman.

“Anybody can pick up a video camera and use it but with a film camera you need a certain level of knowledge and expertise. It is my belief that Humber will either by choice or by force have to stop using film at some point.”