I stumbled across a fascinating documentary the other day on the PBS channel that is reproduced from the US here on the cable TV we subscribe to at home. It was called 'The Wizard of Photography' and was all about the life of George Eastman, the founder of Kodak.

As some of you may know, Kodak as we know it today is in some financial difficulties and is a much smaller and less important company compared to what it was at its height. Kodak has not managed to transform its success as a film and paper-based photography giant in the digital age, although the company is trying hard to win over the public with its cheap to run ink jet printers.

So here are a few cherry-picked factoids about George Eastman: He invented the first commercially successful roll film and matching camera (everyone was using sheet or plate 'film' until then). He set up the firm Eastman 'Kodak' whose brand name was intentionally catchy and yet completely made up and without prior meaning. He was also responsible for the catchy slogan: "You press the button, we do the rest." And there was substance to this as once you had used up all the film in the camera, the whole camera had to be sent back to Kodak for processing. The camera was then sent back with prints and loaded with fresh film. This whole process took a couple of weeks.

Eastman had a few near-disasters before his new company became firmly established. He fell out with a key chemist who formulated the film emulsions that were head and shoulders above the competition at the time and the company nearly failed before a replacement could be found whose talent was comparable to his predecessor.

Eastman also lost a patent case over the invention of celluloid film and this could have bankrupted him, although he avoided this fate by settling with his challenger.

In his later years, Eastman's health deteriorated and he decided to pre-empt the prospect of becoming an invalid like his mother, so he shot himself, leaving a note that said: "My work is done, why wait?".

Apparently, George Eastman was a difficult man to work with, but he was very determined and knew exactly what he wanted to achieve - and usually did. In today's values he became a billionaire and used much of his wealth in philanthropic causes.

With some even predicting that 2012 could be the last year for the Kodak brand, founded in 1888, I wonder what he would think of his legacy now?

Finally, I live and work in Hemel Hempstead, where Kodak used to have its UK headquarters. Kodak used to dominate the town, but its towerblock has been converted to apartments and offices. Many of my neighbours used to work for Kodak, too.