Show Biz and the printing and imaging industry

Those of you who might have read my "Book Scanners" post and clicked through to Steven Levy's piece(s) on the Atiz Booksnap may have enjoyed reading about Atiz founder Sarasin "Art" Booppanon and his partner, former Xerox salesman Nick Warnock of Donald Trump's Apprentice fame.

Well, that's not the only Donald Trump Apprentice connection within our industry lately. In January, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice aired a show, still available via streaming video, that featured the Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-in-one and the Celebrity Teams' efforts to promote the product, around an "it's all about the ink" theme. Kodak's notable "One Thousand Nerds" blog covers the broadcast as well as follow-up party preceding the Kodak 2008 analyst event in early February.

I don't know what there is about the Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE EK), but they just seem to have show business in their corporate DNA. Of course, part of their business is based in Hollywood, as a major supplier to the Film (as in Entertainment) Industry, and the Kodak Theatre, home to the Oscars ceremony (this year's is February 24th, we hope!), provides a regular reminder of the company's connection to the silver screen.

And while I'm on the subject of Kodak and show business, a friend forwarded a link to a unique product review site called "Pass The Taters" that's worth a look, for their review of the Kodak 5300 as well as other products. Different production values than, say, the aforementioned 80th annual Academy Awards broadcast, but quite entertaining!

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