柯达世代

    柯达公司（Kodak）正设法到2013年摆脱破产保护的阴影，为此它将继续减轻负担，希望就此削减成本，只保留最具盈利能力的资产。9月份，公司宣布了一项裁减1,000个工作岗位的计划，这是公司重组举措的一部分。此举使今年的裁员人数达到了3,700人。同月的晚些时候，柯达又宣布，将出售喷墨打印机销售业务（但目前仍将保留墨水销售业务）。

    有些人已经提前猜到了柯达的这些决策。周一上午，评论家无疑会对柯达大加挞伐，但无可否认的是，柯达公司在20世纪一些最为重大的技术和科学创新中占有举足轻重的地位。只需要看看它直接或间接培育的众多成功企业就能明白这一点。以下就是柯达多年来一路走来所繁衍哺育的众多企业。

Kodachrome generation

    As Kodak (EKDKQ, Fortune 500) sets course to emerge from bankruptcy protection in 2013, it will continue to lighten its load, hoping to cut costs and whittle itself down to its most profitable assets. In September, the company announced plans to cut 1,000 jobs as part of its restructuring, bringing the tally for the year up to 3,700. Later that same month, Kodak announced that it would get out of the inkjet printer sales business (though it'll stick with ink sales for now).

    Some have second-guessed Kodak's decisions. Critics will no doubt play Monday-morning quarterback, but you can't deny the tremendous role Kodak has played in some of the greatest technological and scientific innovations of the 20th century. Just look at the many successful businesses it has directly or indirectly spawned. Here's a look at a handful of what Kodak has passed along over the years.

伊士曼化学公司

    这家公司可算是所有子公司的祖师爷。公司位于田纳西州的金仕堡，2011年以72亿美元的营业收入位列“财富500强”榜单的第346位。该公司主要生产各种原材料、添加剂、化学制品和纤维。1920年，乔治•伊士曼为了应对一战期间从欧洲进口的原材料短缺情况创建了这家公司。

    除了摄影所需的化学制剂和材料外，公司早期开发的产品是醋酸纤维，这种产品由高硫煤和木纤维制成，至今仍用于服装和卷烟过滤嘴。时任柯达首席执行官的乔治•费舍尔1994年出售了这家公司，这个决策也是很多事后诸葛亮津津乐道的一件事。如果当初保留该公司，那就意味着柯达原本可以像富士胶卷公司（Fuji Film）那样更多地转向材料科学开发。

Eastman Chemical

    This could be considered the granddaddy of all the spin-offs. Based in Kingsport, Tenn., the firm was ranked 346 on the Fortune 500 with 2011 revenue of $7.2 billion. The company, which produces a range of materials, additives, chemicals, and fibers, was founded in 1920 by George Eastman in response to a shortage of raw materials coming from Europe during World War I.

    Beyond photographic chemicals and materials, one of the company's early developments was acetate yarn, which is manufactured from high sulfur coal and wood pulp and is still used in clothing and cigarette filters. Kodak's CEO at the time, George Fisher, sold Eastman Chemical (EMN, Fortune 500) in 1994 -- a decision that has been subject to much second guessing. Keeping it would have meant that Kodak could turn more toward material sciences, as Fuji Film did.

Truesense Imaging影像公司

    这家公司主要开发生产高性能影像传感器设备，它们广泛用于制造业质检、数字放射显影、地球影像卫星、交通监控和DNA测序系统。据该公司网站资料称：“最终演变为Truesense Imaging的业务最初始于20世纪七十年代伊士曼柯达公司的物理部门，当时该部门主要负责研究还处于萌芽期的固态成像技术……”2011年11月，私募基金公司Platinum Equity收购了该部门，随后成立了Truesense公司。

    柯达在这一领域的成果对数码摄影的发展至关重要。1986年，它研制出首个百万像素的影像传感器，该产品随后用于世界上第一款数码单反相机——1991年推出的柯达DCS-100。不过，世界上首款数码相机原型是1975年由柯达科学家斯蒂夫•沙松研制的：它有烤箱那么大，用模拟卡式磁带拍摄1万像素（.01 megapixel）的黑白照片。

Truesense Imaging

    Truesense Imaging develops and manufactures high-performance image sensor devices that are used in manufacturing inspection, digital radiography, earth imaging satellites, traffic monitoring, and DNA sequencing systems. According to the company's website, "the business that would eventually become Truesense Imaging began in the Physics Division of Eastman Kodak Company in the early 1970s, with research in the nascent area of solid state imaging...." Platinum Equity purchased the division from Kodak in November 2011 and subsequently launched Truesense.

    Kodak's work in this area was crucial to the development of digital photography. In 1986, it built the first megapixel image sensor, which was then used in the world's first digital SLR camera -- the Kodak DCS-100, released in 1991. Though, the first digital camera prototype was actually built by Kodak scientist Steve Sasson in 1975: it was the size of a toaster and captured black and white .01 megapixel images to an analog cassette tape.

罗切斯特精密光学公司

    该公司位于西汉丽埃塔（West Henrietta）市郊的罗切斯特，主要生产广泛用于商业、军事和工业领域的光学镜头。2005年，该公司从柯达光学影像系统公司（Kodak Optical Imaging Systems）购买了生产技术、知识产权和一部分资产。公司利用柯达开发的创新技术，专门生产玻璃模压非球面镜头（glass-molded aspheric lenses，所谓非球面就是指不是球面或柱面的一部分）。这种镜头用途广泛，从CD播放机和拍照手机到光学望远镜和导弹制导系统都能应用。

Rochester Precision Optics

    Based in the Rochester suburb of West Henrietta, Rochester Precision Optics (RPO) produces optical lenses for a wide variety of commercial, military, and industrial uses. In 2005, the firm acquired the manufacturing technology, intellectual property, and assets from Kodak Optical Imaging Systems. The company specializes in glass-molded aspheric lenses (not part of a sphere or cylinder) using innovations developed at Kodak. These lenses can be used in everything from CD players and camera phones to telescopes and missile guidance systems.

Ortho临床诊断公司

    1994年，强生公司（Johnson & Johnson）收购了伊士曼柯达公司的临床诊断分公司，并最终使其与强生的Ortho诊断公司合并，形成了目前这家公司。作为强生的子公司，它主要提供医疗诊断技术，如血液筛查设备和体外临床试验技术。比如，该公司推出了首个能筛查血液中HIV-1抗原的试剂盒，这种病毒是导致美国绝大多数艾滋病病例的元凶。但推出该产品的同年，柯达就出售了该公司，同时还以29亿美元的低价出售了非处方药生产企业Sterling Winthrop有限公司，以加快剥离其医疗保健产品生产部门。柯达此举的理由是：更加专注于核心的影像业务，同时换取现金偿还债务。

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics

    In 1994, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ,Fortune 500) acquired the Clinical Diagnostics Division of Eastman Kodak, which was eventually merged with J&J's Ortho Diagnostic to form this company. The subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson produces medical diagnostic technology, such as blood screening devices and in vitro clinical testing. For example, the company introduced the first test kit to screen blood for antigens for HIV-1, the virus responsible for the vast majority of AIDS cases in the U.S. The same year Kodak sold this division, it also sold off over-the-counter drug operation Sterling Winthrop Inc. for $2.9 billion in a greater effort to shed its health care units. The reasoning for the move: to focus more on its core imaging business and pay down debt.

锐珂医疗公司

    2007年，柯达决定以近25亿美元的低价出售其医疗集团公司。现在该集团更名为锐珂医疗（CareStream Health），是加拿大最大的公司之一奥奈克斯公司（Onex Corporation）的子公司。锐珂专攻的领域有数字放射显影，医疗与牙科成像，医疗IT和分子成像。当时这一出售招致了批评，因为在有些人看来，医疗成像技术是比消费成像更稳定的业务。支撑这一观点的事实是，柯达医疗集团公司当时刚刚成功摆脱连续两年的季度亏损。但对柯达来说，它可能别无选择，因为它非常需要现金。2011年，锐珂医疗的营业收入达到了24亿美元。

CareStream Health

    Kodak decided to sell off its health group in 2007 with a price tag in the neighborhood of $2.5 billion. Now under the name CareStream Health, it is a subsidiary of one of Canada's largest corporations, Onex Corporation (ONEXF). CareStream has a foothold in radiography, medical and dental imaging, healthcare IT, and molecular imaging. The sale garnered criticism at the time, as the medical imaging technology was seen by some as a steadier business than consumer imaging. To its defense, Kodak's health group had just come off two straight years of quarterly losses. And Kodak may not have had a choice as it was already scrambling for liquidity. CareStream brought in $2.4 billion in revenues in 2011.

ITT Exelis公司

    2004年，柯达将自己为国防和航空客户服务的遥感系统业务出售给了ITT工业公司（ITT Industries）。该业务的技术用于精密光学部件和光学系统，而这两者除了其他用途，主要用于大功率望远镜。实际上，柯达1981年就为哈勃太空望远镜生产了备用镜片。它目前在史密森尼博物馆（Smithsonian）展出。

ITT Exelis

    Kodak sold its Remote Sensing Systems business, which served defense and aerospace customers, to ITT Industries (now ITT Exelis) in 2004. The technology is used in precision optics and optical systems which are used for, among other things, high-powered telescopes. In fact, Kodak actually fabricated a back-up mirror for the Hubble Space Telescope in 1981. It's now on display at the Smithsonian.

LG 公司

    2009年，柯达将其有机发光二极管（OLED，organic light-emitting diode）业务出售给了韩国的LG电子有限公司（LG Electronics）。在此之前，柯达一直抱怨LG和其他手机厂商侵犯了其数码相机专利。柯达1987年发明了OLED技术。它采用的是一层通电后能发光的有机薄膜。这项技术主要用于数字显示设备，如电视机屏幕、电脑显示器和手机屏幕。业界普遍认为，这项技术比液晶（LCD）和等离子屏幕更先进，利用它能生产更轻更薄，能效更高，显示效果更好的屏幕。2012年1月，LG发布了一款OLED电视的原型机，网络媒体公司CNET.com称其为“十几年来电视技术最重大的进展”和“平板显示技术的未来”。至少就目前而言，柯达还持有相当一部分与OLED相关的专利。

    译者：清远

LG

    In 2009, Kodak sold its organic OLED (or organic light-emitting diode) business to South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. Prior to the sale, Kodak had complained that LG and other mobile phone manufacturers infringed on its digital camera patents. Invented by Kodak in 1987, OLED utilizes an organic film that emits light in response to an electric current. The tech is used in digital displays such as TV screens, computer monitors, and mobile phones. Considered superior to LCD and plasma screens, OLED allows for thinner, lighter, more efficient, and better quality displays. When LG revealed an OLED TV prototype in January 2012, CNET.com called it "the most important advancement in TV technology in more than a decade" and "the future of flat-panel tech." At least for now, Kodak holds quite a few OLED-related patents.