This was the worst film format that Kodak ever invented – but millions still bought the cameras

FEB 3 1981, FEB 4 1982; Charles Fischer, of Kodak Rochester, Wednesday demonstrated Eastman Kodak's new line of compact camera, which uses a unique 15-exposure rotating disc of film, right, rather than a conventional roll or cartridge ***** camera styles were introduced.; (Photo By Ed Maker/The Denver Post via Getty Images).

Kodak had a long history of introducing what seems to be ever-smaller film formats. We’ve had 127 roll film (1912), 35mm cartridge film (1934), 828 roll film (1935), 126 or Instamatic cartridge film (1963), 110 cartridge film (1972), Kodak Disc film (1982) and the Advanced Photo System or APS cartridge film (1996).

All were aimed at simplifying film loading, making cameras easier to use and, thus, increasing the number of “Kodak Moments” that people took – and, in turn, increasing Kodak’s film and processing profits. But industry observers like to point out that there are three more reasons for doing this.