Flashback: the dawn of the age of digital cameras

A lot of the blogging that Ron and I do, along with much of Ron's artwork over at "Just Pictures" wouldn't be possible without digital cameras. Mine even does movies, and I've started playing around with short films using Microsoft Movie Maker editing software. In case you have an interest in such things, I wanted to point you to an interesting AP article which is out this weekend on the history of the digital camera.

(Photo Credit: AP) It was first brought into being at Kodak by Steven Sasson way back in 1975, though it would be another quarter century before they would move aggressively to market the technology.

Check out that monster! Sasson's camera weighed eight pounds (!), was literally the size of a toaster, and he had to invent all the circuitry in it from scratch. It wasn't exactly speedy or efficient at first, either.

Completing their final voltage-variation test in December 1975, Sasson and his chief technician, Jim Schueckler, persuaded a lab assistant to pose for them. The image took 23 seconds to record onto the cassette and another 23 seconds to read off a playback unit onto a television. Then it popped up on the screen.

"You could see the silhouette of her hair," Sasson said. But her face was a blur of static. "She was less than happy with the photograph and left, saying 'You need work,' " he said. But an overjoyed Sasson already knew the solution: By simply reversing a set of wires, the assistant's face was restored.

This article is a nice historical piece. Given that it's in the business section, it also provides a good perspective on how the digital revolution has affected Kodak's corporate future, employment, and product lines. If you have an interest in digital imaging, give it a read.