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!

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.

@atomicpoet if you feel like reminiscing about this era, you should check out this book by @MossRC 💾

We cold-emailed Richard to speak at our Apple-focused conference about his first book “The Secret History of Mac Gaming” that was a total banger, and he was such a great storyteller. It’s no surprise this one’s great too.