Digital camera

The digital camera emerged from an unexpected convergence: space exploration and consumer electronics. NASA needed cameras that could transmit images from space probes without physical film. The charge-coupled device (CCD), invented at Bell Labs in 1969, provided the sensing technology—converting light directly into electronic signals that could be stored and transmitted.

Steve Sasson, an engineer at Eastman Kodak, built the first self-contained digital camera in 1975. The device was a 3.6-kilogram prototype that captured 0.01-megapixel black-and-white images onto a cassette tape, taking 23 seconds per exposure. Sasson demonstrated the technology to Kodak executives, who saw the threat to their film business and shelved the project. This decision would become a canonical case study in disruption theory—the incumbent's inability to cannibalize its own cash cow.

The adjacent possible for practical digital cameras required several streams to mature. CCD sensors needed to achieve adequate resolution. Flash memory, emerging in the late 1980s, would eventually replace tape and magnetic storage. Image compression algorithms (JPEG, standardized in 1992) made file sizes manageable. Microprocessors grew powerful enough to handle real-time image processing. LCD displays provided the instant preview that eliminated film's core advantage—knowing immediately whether you captured the shot.

Japanese companies drove commercialization. Sony's Mavica (1981) stored images on floppy disks but used analog video technology. The first true consumer digital cameras emerged in the early 1990s: Logitech's Dycam (1990), Kodak's DCS-100 (1991), and Apple's QuickTake (1994). But quality remained poor and prices high. The breakthrough came as CCD resolution improved, storage costs dropped, and USB connectivity simplified the workflow of getting images onto computers.

Geographic factors shaped the transition. Rochester, New York—Kodak's company town since 1880—possessed the photographic expertise but institutional barriers to self-disruption. Japanese electronics giants in Tokyo and Osaka combined display, sensor, and consumer electronics manufacturing. Silicon Valley contributed the digital workflows that made cameras useful beyond printing.

The cascade effects transformed photography fundamentally. The marginal cost of capturing an image dropped to zero, changing behavior from selective to constant documentation. Photo sharing moved online. Professional photography's economic model collapsed as stock agencies faced unlimited supply. Social media platforms emerged partly enabled by ubiquitous image creation.

By the 2010s, dedicated digital cameras were themselves being disrupted by smartphones. The industry that disrupted Kodak was disrupted in turn. Only high-end professional cameras survived as distinct products, while casual photography migrated entirely to devices people already carried. The lesson was clear: disruption isn't a one-time event but a continuous process.