Comments

What's wrong with KEG (Kodak Easyshare Gallery)? Doesn't it remind you of a cold drink on a hot day??

Posted by Jack Krupansky at March 26, 2005 5:56 PM

I don't think that is what is going on there. There is something about pictures, your pictures, and having to assign a corporate name to it that is troubling. I also think Kodak is insincere in their desire to build a relationship with its Ofoto members, a blanket letter, "Hello, I am your new adoptive parent!" does not make me a happy child and does not build a family. The entire scenario is a trainwreck..no wait, a right brain empathetic neuropathway eruption!

You should personally email Mr. Kodak back a picture of your frowning face and tell him that you are saddened by his decision not to contact you prior to making a change to your emotional contract [i.e., your Ofoto deal] and to personally call you in the future when new issues arise and that you look forward to receiving all of the new personal engagement/relationship initiatives he plans to implement now that he has changed the name to Kodak Easyshare Gallary. Remember to sign your letter/picture Sincerely, as that was his intension in the first place.

Posted by Wendy at March 26, 2005 6:57 PM

Easy and share are fairly cool - easy is a lifestyle issue and sharing is a family one.

Kodak sponsors the largest balloon festival in the world here in Albuquerque so I'm loyal to them - it is the most photographed event in the world.

Happy EASTER.

Posted by John at March 26, 2005 7:30 PM

Come on now. This is a big step for a company that named their film Ektachrome. The name says it all - easy to share, and it's a gallery. Spelled correctly too.

Not like that silly Ofoto. Didn't you know that photo has a "p" in it?

Posted by Larry Borsato at March 26, 2005 9:35 PM

Five quirky pleasures

1. Middle of the night walks through a quiet town, that was bustling just hours before.

2. Laying under a full moon listening to my breath and heartbeat.

3. Making eye contact until the other person either gets uncomfortable or smiles. ( I prefer the smile, however I kind of snicker when someone gets uncomfortable.)

4. PHO' Vietnamese soup with all the parts in it. Tendons, tripe, beef balls, Fresh basil and bean sprouts and so much more.

5. Playing in a drum circle as it transforms from seperate parts and many conversations to one organic integrated egoless and egofull invocation.

G fox quirky gallery

Posted by Gary Fox at March 26, 2005 10:48 PM

I must say, I had the exact same reaction when I received an email from Ofoto with news of the name change.

I certainly understand the desire to weave the Kodak name into the service (they've had the wording "a Kodak company" next to the Ofoto logo for some time). Even if it's no longer the gold standard brand it was 25 years ago, Kodak still carries a lot of positive connotations when it comes to photography and capturing memories. But it's not as if the online photo category is so new that it needs "EasyShare Gallery" awkwardly tacked on to somehow explain the benefits.

For my money, just transition the name to something simple like Kodak Ofoto and call it a day.

Posted by Patrick at March 27, 2005 1:22 AM

Kodak is having problems with their brand (welcome to the digital photography world) and they probably thought that pinning their KODAK name in all the things they can get their hands on will help REBUILD them.

It's a wrong move because OFOTO is a good brand in itself. Why drag it into the downward spiral.

Posted by Dennis Balajadia at March 27, 2005 6:16 AM

honest pleasures that aren't quirky:

1. Finding dirt on a business competitor, and then telling people who you know are blabbermouths.

2. Flirting with your sister-in-law.

3. Telling your wife you're going to a blogging conference, then taking your secretary to Vegas.

4. Overeating.

5. Voting Republican.

Posted by Dan Herzlich at March 27, 2005 8:31 AM

Regarding the "easy lifestyle issue", mentioned by John, it's very syntomatic of this mass-culture we life in and it's clearly what drives most of the people nowadays... But to me this doesn't mean by that it is the best choice, actually I believe the real good option is quite different (and uncommon): I say variety, appreciating differences, respect, imagination, learning, change, innovation...
Ofoto definitively!

Posted by Omara at March 27, 2005 1:59 PM

"syntomatic" [sic] of this mass culture - Omara please. Ease is the elegant essence of entrepreneurship and freedoms - do it with ease and simplicity then move on to the next new design. I believe too many complicate their lifestyles with consumption excesses - too little investment / too much obesity. An easy lifestyle is a fun, energizing, simple and affluent one.

The USA has no mass culture - it is a melting pot of mini-cultures from everywhere - try living in Manhattan for 2 years or so. Love the part you added about variety, .... innovation, et. al.

Posted by John at March 27, 2005 3:12 PM

Good names should be verb-able like "I'll go and Google that". I can "Ofoto my pictures". Kodak Easyshare gallery doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

Posted by Barry at March 27, 2005 3:39 PM

John, thanks for the comments, I am not asking you to share my point of view and both are compatible I think. However, syntomatic it's not related to sic even it could be; it's a manifestation of something, nothing else nothing more and applies to cultures same than to individuals.

But, could you please find an acceptable explanation why if entrepreneurship and freedom are as linked to easy on its esence as you said then we don't have as many - and good- entrepreneurs as it would be desirable?

BTW, we all live in a mass-culture these days check out from Pop Art movements onwards please.

Posted by Omara at March 27, 2005 6:19 PM

Omara - thanks for intelliegent comments.
"syntomatic" I thought was symtomatic, therefore the [sic] - which refers to a typo.

To me "easy" isn't easy for most - especially those in metropolitan settings. I just moved to Albuquerque from Washington D.C. D.C. is a big challenge for ease - the commute, career pursuit, housing cost [lucky 45% increase tho]. Whereas New Mexico is much easier and more productive.

Entrepreneurs are basically lazy - spending countless hours to find the easy way to profit and career success.

So if you are in a major metro area the challenge increases - less time to be creative and innovative. Whereas some incubator spots like Austin, Albuquerque, Boise, et. al support the lifestyle of ease that makes for entrepreneur success.

I really think living close to nature is a key to happiness. Dr. Tom apparently has homes in rural Vermont and Kauai for example.

USA people get caught up in consumer society - 2 homes - 3 cars - vacations - too much dining - too much that doesn't last. Less is more.

Struggle is 20th century - 21st is beautiful design, ease and elegance.

Posted by John at March 27, 2005 7:08 PM

if its not quirky then its boring.. !! heres my top 5 quirky foo..

1) while going up or down, Listen to the elevator walls with a stethoscope.
2) At the cash counter -Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering: "Shut up, dammit, all of you just shut UP!"
3)While communting -Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask: "Got enough air in there?"
4) If you called for a meeting that you dont want to attend - Stare, grin at another members for a while, and then announce: "I've got new socks on!"
5) Explaining to the accountants that they are getting it wrong. 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2 eh ??

oh well, they are all kodak moments opps -ofoto meoments too :)

Posted by /pd at March 28, 2005 1:16 PM

I also think "less is more" (Frank Lloyd Wright), that I understand as less of the accesory, of the superficial stuff, not less of the important and meaningful things of life.

Posted by Omara at March 28, 2005 3:04 PM

Personally I don't like Ofoto it sounds like one of those dumb "I want to try and make a brand out of this name by spelling something incorrectly" names.

By the way Kegs is slang for an item of underwear in parts of the UK - mind you Ofoto is probably rude somewhere too......

Posted by PaulH at March 29, 2005 3:42 AM

"Less is more" was not Frank Lloyd Wright. It was Gertrude Stein to Ernest Hemingway. (As they say on TV--"you can look it up.")

viagra samples overnight If you were to buy a new Kodak digital camera today it would come with software called Easyshare that you don't need. (Most computers come pre-loaded with digital photo processing software.) So, why in the heck did Kodak bother with the expense of this? I guess someone needs it, but I don't know who.

The Kodak digital printer that comes with the digital camera is kind of cool, though. This is nice for people without computers. (Yes, they exist. My octogenarian parents don't desire a computer, but wanted to get in on the digital photo scene. This worked out great for them.) But, again, the whole thing came with Easyshare software--and there's nowhere to load the CD in the printer! UNBELIEVABLE.

I've been to Rochester, though, so maybe I can understand why Kodak seems so clueless. The major occupation of the city seems to be panhandling.

Posted by Mike at March 29, 2005 8:11 AM

Thank you for the info Mike, I suppose we received the same message through different sources, however I am OK same if it was said by Gertrude Stein or F. Lloyd Wright.

viagra over counter Posted by Omara at March 29, 2005 7:11 PM

Actually, I'm pretty sure Mies Van Der Rohe is the one who said "Less is more." Although, at this point everyone has said it :)

Posted by David Weinberger at March 30, 2005 1:40 AM

OK David, "at this point_everyone_has said it" but at this point a few ones have built from this statement their way of living.
Most of the messages we receive today are related to acquiring things, possessing stuff, being proud of having whatever (even applicable to persons).

It doesn't look to you like we have been kidded with the radical and reversed use of this idea?.
What I see these days: less inside = more outside - and please don't think,don´t be creative and don't innovate and we all be for ever happy fools inmersed in the espiral of consuming-.

It's a fact that not many are that addept today to the real meaning of "less is more", it requires thinking among other qualities.

Just drop by any shopping center on a weekend (not my quote: "the temples of our century")

Posted by Omara at March 30, 2005 1:10 PM

I find it ironic, not to mention slightly hypocritical, that people engaged in trying to get other people to buy stuff they don't need speak so grandly about "living with less," "less is more," and other axioms of the simple life. Get real, you are all either directly involved with marketing, design, and/or advertising or at least on the fringes or you wouldn't be hanging around this site in the first place. So, I guess the idea is for you to sell me junk I don't need until you make enough money to retire to the simple life next door to Peters in the Vermont wilderness, huh?

Posted by Mike at March 31, 2005 8:24 AM

Hi Mike! I am not into sales by any mean, I am into Art, that's because I find really attractive the realm of Design. Companies don't pay me for using my mind...I don't know if you have that luck. I just enjoy sharing this ideas with people who is supposed to be cooler and smarter -or on their way - than the media, and I don't think I'll get a house in Vermont for it
;-)

Posted by Omara at March 31, 2005 9:31 AM