Quote Originally Posted by Ehcalum
...why did it only show up in digital cameras and not film cameras/lenses of olde?

Err, because it didn't? Canon's first image stabilized lens, the EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM, was introduced in 1995. Digital photography didn't really become accessible until the introduction of the first sub-$1000 DSLR, the Digital Rebel (2003). That's eight years after the introduction of I.S.