tomato can Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323646604578405001071809788.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Wow.......................lol A business, long since dying due to technological advances, is closing due to financial problems and we're somehow supposed to connect that to the union's role in today's world ? ? That's quite the leap....................................... It was just a matter of time, writes Chris Gampat at the Phoblographer blog. People are taking their own photos with their own digital cameras, and they care less about prints. "This trend started in the wedding industry and it was only a matter of time until it hit retailers." Adds Stan Horaczek at PopPhoto: "The world doesn't necessarily need any more photos of awkward families plunked in front of fireplaces. But, it does say something about how willing people are to pay for photography in general." How sure are you that workers back in their St. Louis developers aren't unionized ? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Wow.......................lol A business, long since dying due to technological advances, is closing due to financial problems and we're somehow supposed to connect that to the union's role in today's world ? ? That's quite the leap....................................... How sure are you that workers back in their St. Louis developers aren't unionized ? . Well, just like a lot of industries they need to catch up with the time. You do not rent movies anymore you go to a box and get it or stream it. You do not buy magazines, you go online and read it. Maybe the company should have worked on providing kiosks or stations to print your own high quality photos, offered to assist with digital processing, and allowed a chance to order prints online. Walmart already does this, and they are a retailer. The company should have generated kiosk stations where you could pick up your prints. Think about it, you submit your pictures online, you check a few boxes: Remove Red Eye, Enhance colors, Black and White, create panaroma, stitch or crop photo... the software online does it for you "free of charge." Then you can have it professionally done, maybe ask something like add funny faces to the kids and make a giant beard on the dad. Well, then pick it up when you get your groceries on fancy paper. Other options could include a CD of the images, a backup amended disc or online storage for the copies, and optional framces included. I think I just founded a business. Who's going to fund it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 You oughta read the article before posting a link to it. "While many believe digital photography and phone cameras have doomed the industry, CPI's troubles were also connected to the details of its own product, said John Johnson, chief executive of Picture People, a competing photo studio with 150 outlets in malls and stores across the country. Picture People, which is owned by private-equity firm Blackstreet Capital, says it has had positive same-store sales growth and customer traffic in the latest year, and had not seen a slowdown. CPI's studios would ask customers to return weeks later to collect their portraits, after having them printed at centralized facilities—something fewer customers are willing to accept in a time of ubiquitous instant printing services. "It's really just an expectation now, people demand speed and they demand quality and convenience," Mr Johnson said. "I've been in this business for 25 years and fundamentally, this business has never changed: You've got a mom, and a new baby or young child, and she wants a beautiful portrait to hang on her wall, and that is never going to change." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 It's hard to make a portrait in the New Digital Age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 You oughta read the article before posting a link to it. "While many believe digital photography and phone cameras have doomed the industry, CPI's troubles were also connected to the details of its own product, said John Johnson, chief executive of Picture People, a competing photo studio with 150 outlets in malls and stores across the country. Picture People, which is owned by private-equity firm Blackstreet Capital, says it has had positive same-store sales growth and customer traffic in the latest year, and had not seen a slowdown. CPI's studios would ask customers to return weeks later to collect their portraits, after having them printed at centralized facilities—something fewer customers are willing to accept in a time of ubiquitous instant printing services. "It's really just an expectation now, people demand speed and they demand quality and convenience," Mr Johnson said. "I've been in this business for 25 years and fundamentally, this business has never changed: You've got a mom, and a new baby or young child, and she wants a beautiful portrait to hang on her wall, and that is never going to change." He read it. He was just making the point that companies sometimes fail without the unions being involved, which therefore means unions are completely blameless in all corporate failures. Because that's how he rolls... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Well, just like a lot of industries they need to catch up with the time. You do not rent movies anymore you go to a box and get it or stream it. You do not buy magazines, you go online and read it. Maybe the company should have worked on providing kiosks or stations to print your own high quality photos, offered to assist with digital processing, and allowed a chance to order prints online. Walmart already does this, and they are a retailer. The company should have generated kiosk stations where you could pick up your prints. Think about it, you submit your pictures online, you check a few boxes: Remove Red Eye, Enhance colors, Black and White, create panaroma, stitch or crop photo... the software online does it for you "free of charge." Then you can have it professionally done, maybe ask something like add funny faces to the kids and make a giant beard on the dad. Well, then pick it up when you get your groceries on fancy paper. Other options could include a CD of the images, a backup amended disc or online storage for the copies, and optional framces included. I think I just founded a business. Who's going to fund it? Kodak had that. And look where they are now, selling off everything that's not nailed down. I used to have a Kodak Gallery account, I could upload my pictures, choose which ones I wanted printed out, and pick them up at Wegmans (sometimes the same day), or have them mailed to my house. I haven't found an online service I liked that compared to the plain, easy to use, Kodak Gallery site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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