get the Picture ? kodak and intel DIGITIZE photofinishing - CD

Emedia Professional, May, 1999 by Marla Misek

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture made interactive is priceless. At least that's what Eastman Kodak Company and Intel Corporation are counting on with the nationwide launch of Picture CD--the first of several film digitization initiatives allowing consumers to Take Pictures Further than ever before.

Announced in late September 1998 and available nationally since mid-February 1999, Picture CD bundles on a single CD-ROM high-resolution (1534 x 1024) scans of a consumer's pictures, as well as a series of built-in software applications for sharing, storing, viewing, and modifying those images. The goal of the Picture CD initiative, said Intel's President and CEO Craig Barrett at the September launch, is to make images on PCs "as easy to use and as ubiquitous as text is today."

To do this, Kodak and Intel have made it possible to convert traditional pictures into digital images through the standard photofinishing processes consumers have relied upon for decades. Specifically, the companies have installed Pentium II microprocessor-based servers and a series of high-performance workstations, plus new Kodak film scanners and CD-R drives, in the Qualex photofinishing labs of many of the nation's top retailers, including CVS, Walgreens, Fred Meyer, Albertson's, and Target.

Random calls to the photo labs of retailers participating in the Picture CD program throughout the midwest and on both coasts suggest that interest in and awareness of digitel developing has been moderate at best. Indeed, a month after the national rollout, few photo lab employees could comment knowledgeably about the new technology. Questions regarding costs and turnaround times were, for the most part, left unanswered. Those who could respond stated that each Picture CD--which holds one roll of 35mm or Advanced Photo System film--costs about $10 per disc to develop and follows the lab's regularly posted turnaround schedule. In fairness, the employees who were able to provide price and turnaround estimates work in stores that were included in the initiative's test marketing efforts, which began on September 21, 1998. Photofinishing labs not included in the test market regions have only been offering the Picture CD development option since February.

According to Kodak and Intel, roughly seven in ten customers who chose to try Picture CD during the four-month test marketing initiative in Salt Lake City and Indianapolis were "completely satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the service. Within these markets, about four to six percent of the rolls processed each week were turned into Picture CDs at a suggested list price of $8.95 to $10.95 per roll, depending on service turnaround times.

To run Picture CD, you'll need a Windows 95 or 98-based PC (or a Windows NT workstation running OS 4.0, but not 5.0) that processes at 90MHz or higher. The CD itself will run on both CD-ROM and MultiRead-enabled DVD-ROM drives, but Kodak says Picture CD performs better in CD-ROM drives reading at 2X or higher. For more information, visit Kodak's Picture CD Web site at http://www. kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/pictureCD.

(Eastman Kodak Company, 343 State Street, Rochester, NY 14650; 716/724.8891; http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/pictureCD. Intel Corporation, 5000 West Chandler Boulevard, MS: CH6-413, Chandler, AZ 852263699; 602/5542988; Fax 602/552-8740; http://www.intel.com)