Digital Camera

Steven Sasson, Kodak, USA, patent 4,131,919 of 1978. The 3.6-kilo toaster that photographed pixels first.

Overview

Sasson's 1975 breadbox prototype captured 0.01 megapixels to cassette tape, 23 seconds per image, patented 1978. Kodak shelved it to protect film profits, a business-school case of self-disruption avoided. Sony's Mavica, Canon and Nikon's 1990s DSLRs, and phone cameras then ate the world and Kodak's 2012 bankruptcy. Sasson received the National Medal of Technology in 2009. The patent itself was solid; the strategy is the cautionary tale. Every selfie is his toaster's fault.