These 15 pieces of old technology contain a mind-boggling number of parts
McLellan started the series as a way to celebrate the mechanics of old technology. "As I'm taking it apart, if I press this button, I know it presses that lever, and you can actually see that happen," he tells Tech Insider.
Newer technology doesn't offer the same tactile satisfaction, he says. "You press the button and its goes into the circuit board, and then it makes something on the screen do something. You can't really place how that happened."
The actual process of disassembly takes roughly a day and a half. For complex electronics, like a Walkman, the trickiest part is keeping everything organized.
Arranging the pieces takes another day or two, McLellan says, because he likes to group similar parts together. Combing through each one can be time-consuming.
One trick he's picked up over the years is to start arranging the largest pieces first, which are typically the cases or main units of a device.
From there he extends outward, adding the tiny wires, screws, washers, and bolts.
His largest project was a piano, which took five days to take apart and arrange.
McLellan says one of his greatest joys in doing the project is giving people newfound appreciation for the hidden complexity of seemingly simple products.
People walk by and say 'Oh wow, I didn't know that was in there," he explains. "I kind of took that for granted. People don't know what's inside. They just use things.
McLellan's favorite disassemblies change on a near-daily basis, he says. Right now it's his most recent project, an old-school coffee grinder.
Though he still keeps the old Macintosh close to his heart.
While most disassemblies are fairly smooth, some projects have given him a bit of trouble.
Early video game systems — like the Nintendo NDS, for example — came with two screens, each with several different layers. "It just becomes a bunch of different rectangles throughout the composition and not enough guts to it," he says.
Simpler items, like toasters, are far more reliable in the range of parts they contain.
And some, like old-fashioned typewriters, are so complex that they're not just lessons in industrial design, but true works of art.
McLellan's series, "Things Come Apart," has been turned into a book and is currently on the road with the Smithsonian as one of its traveling exhibits.
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