Kodak Didn't Miss Digital. It Won.

In 1975, a Kodak engineer built the first self-contained digital camera. In 2005, Kodak sold more digital cameras in America than anyone else. In 2012, it filed for bankruptcy. So what actually killed Kodak? Told straight from Kodak's own SEC filings. 0:00 Intro 0:31 The toaster 1:51 The patent 2:54 The warnings 3:49 Ten years 5:16 The peak 5:36 The race 6:49 Winning 7:34 The patents 8:11 The bleeding 8:47 Chapter 11 10:12 What killed Kodak 11:12 Zero Sources: Eastman Kodak annual reports (Form 10-K, 1993–2025), Form 8-K filings (2012–2013, including the Sept. 3, 2013 report on the cancellation of the old shares) and 10-Q (2025); U.S. Patent 4,131,919; bankruptcy case 12-10202 (S.D.N.Y.); IDC; CIPA (Japanese camera makers' shipments); IEEE Spectrum; The New York Times (Lens, 2015); The Wall Street Journal; Bloomberg; CNN Money; WRVO; Rochester Business Journal. Some figures are rounded; calculations are ours, based on the filings. Scenes marked "AI reconstruction" are illustrations, not archival photos. Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons, file names, unless noted): Larry (CC BY-SA 3.0): File:Kodak_Tower_Morrie_Silver_Way.JPG Larry (CC BY-SA 3.0): File:Kodak_Tower_at_Night.JPG Aljawad (CC BY 3.0): File:Steve_sasson.jpg The original uploader was Megapixie at English Wikipedia. (Public domain): File:GeorgeEastman2.jpg R. Henrik Nilsson (CC BY 4.0): File:Late_1990s_Kodak_Gold_200_24_exposure_35_mm_film_cartridge.jpg DanielPenfield (CC BY-SA 3.0): File:Kodak_Park_from_Seneca_Park.JPG Morio (CC BY-SA 3.0): File:Sony_Mavica_1981_prototype_CP+_2011.jpg Joost J. Bakker from IJmuiden (CC BY 2.0): File:Kodak_EK_100_and_EK_1_Instant_Camera.jpg Sönke Rahn (CC BY-SA 3.0): File:Kodak_Instant_Camera_EK6_(Sofortbildkamera).JPG Bayer Company, Inc (Public domain): File:Glass_Bayer_Aspirin_Bottle,_300_Tablet_Size_-_DPLA_-_0fbc96830a09841a77cd4d9d49ad1e42_(page_1).jpg Morio (CC BY-SA 3.0): File:Kodak_DCS_system_and_Nikon_F3_2014_CP+.jpg Hannes Grobe (CC BY-SA 4.0): File:Apple_QuickTake_100_camera.jpg Sgroey (CC BY-SA 4.0): File:Kodak_Advantix_400ISO_APS_film_cartridge.jpg Sgroey (CC BY-SA 4.0): File:Kodak_EasyShare_CX7330.jpg Carlos Delgado (CC BY-SA 3.0): File:Wall_Street_-_New_York_Stock_Exchange.jpg ajay_suresh (CC BY 2.0): File:U.S._International_Trade_Commission_(53840482850).jpg Aude (CC BY 4.0): File:Alexander_Hamilton_U.S._Custom_House,_after_February_2026_blizzard.jpg Tekniska museet (CC BY 2.0): File:"You_press_the_button,_we_do_the_rest"_(37249349200).jpg US 4,131,919 · Electronic still camera · front page (p. 1): United States Patent and Trademark Office (Lloyd and Sasson, Eastman Kodak) (Public domain, U.S. patent), https://patents.google.com/patent/US4... US 4,131,919 · Sheet 1 of 2 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4) (p. 2): United States Patent and Trademark Office (Lloyd and Sasson, Eastman Kodak) (Public domain, U.S. patent), https://patents.google.com/patent/US4... Bertrand Labévue (CC BY-SA 4.0): File:Kodak_Sasson_BL.jpg (drawing used as the base for the AI reconstructions of the 1975 prototype) Book Value Zero: the rise and fall of tech, told in numbers. Narration is AI-generated. All motion graphics are original. Sources and photo credits are listed above.