Kodak's downfall: where was the disruptive technology?

Last week Kodak announced bankruptcy bringing to an end its 132-year existence which, at one time, saw it regularly rated as one of the world's most valuable brands.

Things used to be very different; the company accounted for 90% of film and 85% of camera sales in America during 1976. It was a corporate goliath, bestriding the world with sales in excess of $16 billion in 1996, a workforce of over 100,000 and profits to match.

Fifteen years later Kodak was a ghost of its former s...