Chris TrottierOct 2, 2023

I miss shareware floppies.

At least with NES cartridges you can purchase them at used game stores. Shareware floppies, in contrast, are nowhere to be found—unless you scour eBay. And even then, good luck!

Shareware was an incredible experience. During a time when cartridges were expensive and most people could only afford one or two, people were giving you games—and you could legally play them!

Show threadChris TrottierOct 2, 2023

All right, so let me be clear. It’s not shareware software that I miss. Yes, anyone can download shareware right now and run it.

What I miss is the physical experience of shareware. If you’re unfamiliar with it, picture this.

A friend of yours talks to you at recess. He tells you that he just played the best game ever – so good, he must give you a copy. He passes you that small 3.5” floppy with a handwritten word on the label. He gives you a nod, tells you that you must try it.

You go home, turn on your PC, put the floppy into the drive – and for the first time ever, you encounter Doom. You’re completely, utterly blown away.

So what do you do? You make your own shareware floppy copy, pass it off to another friend, who’s about to discover Doom for the first time.

Now that was the physical experience of shareware.

Show threadChris Kendall
@atomicpoet Wolf 3D was 🤯 but Doom was just 🤯🤯🤯 - and in my case it wasn’t the playground, it was the office - back when you could and did just stick anything you wanted on your office machine without IT knowing or caring
Oct 3, 2023 at 7:20amWeb
Show threadPiers CawleyOct 3, 2023
@ottocrat @atomicpoet and the office was where the network was. So many lunchtimes snatching a sandwich, then shooting the crap out of officemates.
Show threadChris KendallOct 3, 2023
@pdcawley @atomicpoet We never did get to hook ourselves up to each other and LAN it out, though we talked about it. However we did indulge in all sorts of autoexec.bat and config.sys shenanigans. Good times.