When it comes to technology, young people will always be one step ahead. Sometimes, that has hilarious consequences.
As part of the national, gradual shift toward automation, McDonald’s has implemented digital screens at franchises across the country where customers can place their orders without ever interacting with a human being. Most people use these screens to order their Big Mac or large fries, but one teenager decided to hijack the system.
As reported by Fox News, 19-year-old Ryan Edgar managed to run the classic video game “Doom” on one of the McDonald’s monitors, after obtaining an old, discarded version of the monitors and figuring out how the computer systems operated. One observer remarked with snark, “Oh sure ice cream machine broke, but you can still run Doom … I see how it is.”
It’s worth noting that “Doom” is not just any game. The 1993 classic is renowned for its high levels of graphic violence, and some even senselessly blamed it for instances of mass violence such as Columbine. The teen surely knew that this game, of all the possible options, will garner the most attention if played at a family restaurant.
At first glance, this might seem like an isolated story that blew up on social media. But it does speak to the funny ways in which technological evolution manifests itself. Who knows which of our new tech gadgets will be targeted next by young people who understand the technological transformation better than the adults responsible for implementing it?
