| Why hate dongles? Because they're abusive copy protection that has been rejected by users of every other kind of software there is - piracy in graphics software is FAR more rampant than in pro audio but you don't see Adobe and Autodesk using it. Why? Because their customers won't stand for it.
Why don't I like dongles? Because I don't like having my ability to use the product I paid for tied to a little device that is easily lost or stolen, can fail (all active electronic devices can fail), costs extra (companies used to GIVE you the dongle - now you have to buy it), and lends itself to insane protection schemes such as that currently used by Waves that can result in extreme cases of having to pay for re-registering your new product if you blow the initial installation - paying a second time. I also assist companies in instituting "forced upgrade" policies - where installing the latest version of one of their products disables all older versions of their products, forcing you to pay again for what you already paid for - even if there's no benefit to the new version beyond the "upgraded" protection.
Because if your laptop with your dongle gets stolen most companies will not re-authorize your software on a new dongle and system because "there's already one copy in use".
Because if something happens and the company does actually accept that you have a legitimate problem and agrees to help you're still out of business for several days instead of just being able to re-install on a new system.
There are lots of other reasons as well, but you'll have to look them up in those other threads......
DON'T BUY DONGLE PROTECTED SOFTWARE - IF WE REFUSE TO USE IT, IT WILL GO AWAY.
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