Technology plays an ever-increasing role in our daily lives and is constantly changing and evolving. But what happens to outdated technology after a new version is created?
Photos by Adam Bird of Bird + Bird Studio.
Technology plays an ever-increasing role in our daily lives and is constantly changing and evolving. But what happens to the outdated technology after a new version is created?
Grand Valley State University’s operations manager, Scott Vanderberg, has been collecting the school’s outdated media equipment for 35 years. Vanderberg has collected everything from video cameras and tripods to recording devices and landline phones and is currently showcasing his collection in the form of the first-ever Media Technology Exhibit at the university’s Allendale campus.
“Basically, as technology [changed] over the years [and] we get something new, I hang on to one of the old,” says Vanderberg. Vanderberg believes he has a lot of equipment, but that there is still a lot that he doesn’t have. “I have enough to represent the change in technology over the years,” he says.
Vanderberg has saved over 100 pieces of equipment including a Panasonic NV-8200 Omnivision II VHS cassette recorder, a JVC KY-2700 three-tube color video camera, and a Sony AV-3400 portable record/playback videorecorder.
The NV-8200 is a 34-pound VHS editing recorder/player and the KY-2700 is an 18 to 20-pound video camera, both are from the early 80s. The AV-3400 is the first portable color video recorder manufactured in 1969 and weighs 18 pounds.
He has been working with Grand Valley multimedia journalism professors like James Ford and Len O’Kelly to put this equipment on display. Professor Len O’Kelly has his own collection of audio equipment that he plans on sharing with the exhibit to fill in the gaps in the exhibits audio section.