Two and a Half Megabytes

This day twenty years ago, a former juvenile delinquent (and future rocket scientist) uploaded a piece of free software onto the University of Wisconsin’s servers. Ten thousand people immediately scrambled to download it. Within minutes, the servers had crashed. They were completely unprepared. And so was the world.

This software was a phenomenon. Two years later it was on more machines than Windows 95. Twelve million to be exact (including Chandler Bing’s laptop). It was boasted to be “the number one cause of decreased productivity in the workplace”. And by the end of the Nineties it was in the maelstrom of national controversy, following a shocking high school massacre committed by two fans.

This software was a computer game. A game like no other. Fast-paced, gory and very, very violent. It spawned countless imitators in the years than followed. It paved the way for the likes of Half-Life, Halo, and Call of Duty. And Its ramifications are felt in the games industry today, as first-person shooters continue to dominate.

Yet few people my age have experienced its visceral thrills. Wielded its devastating arsenal. Ventured to the moons of Mars. Descended into Hell itself. And to have lived to tell the tale. I count myself lucky to be among them.

Happy 20th birthday, Doom.