Does Kodak treat customers like this?

[wingsley]

When I heard the announcement that Kodak was launching its "P" line of digicams, I went to the announcement page immediately:

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=7372&pq-locale=en_US

I looked the specs over, but I was not satisfied that it answered my questions. First and foremost, will Kodak offer a battery charger for its proprietery "P" series cameras that can operate off a cigarette lighter port in an automobile? I ask this becuase I often "top off" the battery in my Canon camcorder while on the road, and I understand this technique would also work with some of Canon's better digicams which come with proprietery batteries.

I asked their tech support page about this, and here is the doubletalk I received:




<< Thank you for your recent visit to the Kodak Web site and question about
an available accessory for KODAK Easyshare P880 Zoom Digital Camera.

We appreciate your interest in Kodak and our products.

Actually, Kodak is on the leading edge of imaging products and as such
we are always working on new and exciting products. In fact, we spend
significant amount of money each year on research and development.

At the same time, however, as with any company, our hard work does not
come to fruition and the public eye until it is thoroughly tested and
ready for sale. For obvious reasons, we can neither confirm nor deny
rumors relating to product development or potential changes to existing
products. If products, such as you describe, were to be made available,
it would be announced on our website and formally announced &
distributed to dealers, similar to any other new products.

We are glad to be of service and are here for you if you need us in the
future. Please reply to us "with history" if this e-mail did not resolve
your issue.

NOTE: This year Kodak celebrates the 30th anniversary of its invention
of the first digital camera.

Regards,

Kristi J.
Kodak Information and Technical Support >>





As the product has already been announced on Kodak's own web-site, I was mystified by the seeming party-line answer "we don't talk about unannounced products".

Is this the way Kodak treats their customers, or am I jumping the gun?

[Rex914]

You're jumping the gun a little. Product announcements are not equated to having the company finalize everything about the announce product (although they should at this point). For this reason alone, they don't want to say one thing and have that change in the production version.

You might want to take a look at the manual which may have an answer to your question as it's very specific. The link is somewhere in these forums.

[bluevolume]

Not only does Kodak hold the honor of creating the first digital camera, they should also be awarded Most Sued Company. Kodak has been through more lawsuits than most anyone cares to remember. And you could also give them a Most Ripped-Off Ideas award for all of the unwanted "technology transfers" that have served to detriment them.

Because of this, Kodak has to be very careful about any communication it has with its customers. Anything that is even hinted to can be taken the wrong way and turn into a huge mess.

To answer your original question -- it is very unlikely that Kodak will release a charger with a car adapter. This is outside of their core business, and I think you'll find this with most manufacturers. I would get a 110v adapter for the car and be done with it.

[ARROWHEAD]

Wingsley, are you really that dumb or are you just here to try and stir up the KODAK people.