In the 1880s inventor george eastman hit upon an ingenious idea for making photographic film flexible so it could be stored in compact canisters instead of on heavy, fragile glass plates. The new film was portable enough to allow photographers to mail it to a developer and have their pictures sent back in a matter of days. Eastman built a camera around this new technology—the Kodak—and an entire industry was born. Eastman's story is a classic example of the way declining costs can have radical effects on the way people use technology. Before his innovation, photography was a cumbersome and expensive process best suited to solemn official portraits. The Kodak made it possible for ordinary Americans to take snapshots at a reasonable cost, and so a whole host of everyday situations became fodder for amateur photographers: a child's birthday party, a trip to the beach, a vacation.
展开▼
