Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Software Registration & Activation Systems
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 11:00 AM
Jerry Raia over at Smartphone Thoughts posted an interesting thought over the weekend that I thought would spur some good discussion here on Pocket PC Thoughts:
"On a quiet weekend what better thing than to have a little rant? I have chosen application activation as my irritation for the day. Let me be clear, I am not arguing with the concept of having it or the need for it. I’m only musing about the methods used. I will put these in the order they frustrate me the most. The most irritating by far is the method that ties the activation to the device or ROM. Every time I update a ROM or sell a device and get a new one, I have to chase down the developer and get a new activation code. No big deal you say? Not unless the developer folds up their tent. Next is the method that ties the activation to the email address listed in the Owners Information section of the device. I recently had an issue where I had used a different email address a few years ago to activate an application. I had since changed the email on my device. The new application kept changing the owner email field on my device every time I entered it in the application activation field. This of course would deactivate the old application! I had to contact the newer applications developer to change the email address used. No big deal right? Just a hassle and again, if the developer goes away, I'm cooked."
As someone with six PCs in his home/office, and several Pocket PCs and Smartphones, I'm certainly not typical - but I find overly restrictive registration systems to be a huge pain in the...USB port. I deeply respect developers and people who want to protect their intellectual property, so I understand the need for serial numbers and a certain amount of "hoop jumping". If it takes me a few minutes to enter in a key, as long as it's broken up into five-digit blocks, I'm OK with that. Online product activation is where my frustration level tends to rise, however: there's one desktop PC product, ActiveWords, that I simply can't use a PC without. It's amazingly useful (trust me, try it), but it requires a unique registration key that's tied to the hardware. So every time I install it on a PC (and I reformat/rebuild my PCs fairly often) I have to email the company and ask for a new registration key. That's a big hassle, and a big frustration for me. Spb Software House has started an online activation with their Spb DVD Mobile product as well - is it a sign of things to come with Windows Mobile developers? How far is "too far" for you when it comes to registration codes and authentication?
"On a quiet weekend what better thing than to have a little rant? I have chosen application activation as my irritation for the day. Let me be clear, I am not arguing with the concept of having it or the need for it. I’m only musing about the methods used. I will put these in the order they frustrate me the most. The most irritating by far is the method that ties the activation to the device or ROM. Every time I update a ROM or sell a device and get a new one, I have to chase down the developer and get a new activation code. No big deal you say? Not unless the developer folds up their tent. Next is the method that ties the activation to the email address listed in the Owners Information section of the device. I recently had an issue where I had used a different email address a few years ago to activate an application. I had since changed the email on my device. The new application kept changing the owner email field on my device every time I entered it in the application activation field. This of course would deactivate the old application! I had to contact the newer applications developer to change the email address used. No big deal right? Just a hassle and again, if the developer goes away, I'm cooked."
As someone with six PCs in his home/office, and several Pocket PCs and Smartphones, I'm certainly not typical - but I find overly restrictive registration systems to be a huge pain in the...USB port. I deeply respect developers and people who want to protect their intellectual property, so I understand the need for serial numbers and a certain amount of "hoop jumping". If it takes me a few minutes to enter in a key, as long as it's broken up into five-digit blocks, I'm OK with that. Online product activation is where my frustration level tends to rise, however: there's one desktop PC product, ActiveWords, that I simply can't use a PC without. It's amazingly useful (trust me, try it), but it requires a unique registration key that's tied to the hardware. So every time I install it on a PC (and I reformat/rebuild my PCs fairly often) I have to email the company and ask for a new registration key. That's a big hassle, and a big frustration for me. Spb Software House has started an online activation with their Spb DVD Mobile product as well - is it a sign of things to come with Windows Mobile developers? How far is "too far" for you when it comes to registration codes and authentication?
