Kodachrome

“As of August 13, we will no longer be able to accept Kodachrome film for processing” …Sign in a photo lab.

Kodachrome slide film was introduced in 1938 and was an instant hit but its widespread use was curtailed during World War II.After then and until the mid sixties was Kodak's flagship product. The major distinction of this film was that from the start it was nearly perfect. A properly exposed Kodachrome image from the early 50's contained the equivalent of about a 20 megabyte file. Sure, it was a little slow, and you needed a machine about the size of a semi-trailer AND a chemist AND an engineer to run it. But it is a beautiful way to preserve an image. Kodak will still make it (for a while) but they have closed all their processing plants. You can send it to a guy named Dwayne in Kansas City for processing. A sad end for the flagship product of a former blue-chip company. I wonder if 50 years from now you will be able to take an eighth part of a 50 year old digital camera file and make it into a stunning 16 x 20 inch print.* I wonder if you will even be able to read the file. You could with a Kodachrome. Such is the price of progress.

..."don't take my Kodachrome away"...Paul Simon

*Update: You will, digital photography got much better in 2006.