Kodachrome fades to black

If you're old enough to remember mechanical cameras made of metal and Carousel slide projectors, mark today on your calendar. It’s the day that film died. The film, that is. After 74 years, Eastman Kodak Co., announced it will stop making its iconic Kodachrome, the world’s first commercially successful color film, because hardly anyone’s buying it anymore.

When Paul Simon immortalized Kodachrome in his 1973 hit song, he summarized in a few words what many photographers of a certain age had long believed:

Kodachome

They give us those nice bright colors

They give us the greens of summers

Makes you think all the worlds a sunny day

So long, Norman

Most folks probably never heard of Norman Brinker, but to those who follow the chain restaurant business, Brinker, who passed away last week at age 78, changed the way we eat. Back in 1983, Brinker joined a small company called Chili's, at the time a modest hamburger eatery, which became the cornerstone of a Brinker International, a dining empire that serves more than 1 million guests a day and employs 125,000 people in 27 countries. Besides Chili’s, the group includes Maggiano’s Little Italy and On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, two chains that rated highly in our just-released Restaurant Survey report. 

Mandatory nutritional labeling at restaurants nearly a done deal

To date, only a handful of states, major cities, and counties – including Westchester, N.Y., where Consumers Union is headquartered – require restaurants to reveal nutritional information about the food they serve.

But thanks to a compromise proposal hammered out by a bipartisan coalition of Senators, along with input from public health organizations and restaurant industry leaders, that is likely to soon change. 

On Wednesday, the various groups involved announced that they’d reached an “historic” agreement that will enable consumers nationwide to be more informed about the food they put in their mouths at both fast-food and sit-down restaurants. 

Happy birthday to the barcode

That ubiquitous yet mysterious barcoded label found on almost every consumer product imaginable turned 35 years old this week. The Universal Product Code, or UPC, as it’s known, has been around so long that many of us have forgotten how grocery clerks, for example, used to press numeric keys on an actual mechanical cash register to painstakingly ring up product prices. I can still remember the metallic crescendo the adding machine played when the cashier tallied the order total.

I also recall the widespread concern that accompanied the debut of all those cryptic lines. Many skeptical consumers worried about pricing accuracy and complained that the speedy scanners worked so fast it was almost impossible to make sure the prices were on target. 

Why doesn’t Starbucks make low-fat ice cream?

In the great scheme of things, this doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Coffee beans, that is. But since life is made up of little things, here’s my gripe of the day.

How long is too long to wait for a rebate?

Recently, I posted several stories about my experience buying a new washing machine by leveraging the power of price-matching policies. That’s an erudite way of saying, getting one store to undercut another’s price.

I’m happy to report my new GE front loader  (a CR Best Buy, to boot) is working like a charm, knock on wood. It’s so quiet, compared to my old top-loader, that it’s barely audible. I’m amazed at how the washers – and detergents, too, have improved and become so much more efficient over the years.

Tips for the best 'staycation' ever

With unemployment a reality for so many Americans, and the fear of job loss a weighing heavily on the minds of many more, the idea of a pricey vacation is out of the question a lot of us.

Walmart expands, revamps electronics department

If competitors didn’t already have enough to worry about, Walmart just announced that it’s adding more products and features to the home-entertainment department at the megachain’s 3,500 stores, hoping to make shopping more fun and exciting, and products easier to find.

Study: Customer service stinks and consumers are fed up

Remember the line from the 1976 film classic "Network," in which raving TV anchoman Howard Beale, upon learning that he’s about to lose his longtime job because of lousy ratings, urges Americans to shout, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore”?

Well, apparently consumers are voicing similar – albeit not as raucous -- outrage over declining customer service across a broad spectrum of businesses, cutting their ties with companies that are unresponsive or frustrating to deal with, according to a new national survey.

When was the last time you shopped at a ‘dollar’ store?

While department stores, boutique merchants, and other retailers try to hang on and simply survive the perilous economy, inexpensive dollar-type stores are ringing up big sales. And it’s not just low-income consumers who are looking to save a buck at these decidedly unglamorous limited-assortment emporiums.