[Lieste]

Originally Posted by NeonSamurai

I do care however if dongles went main stream as I don't want to deal with a stack of the stupid things (and I guarantee they wont all be using the same dongle maker, the big distributors will probably sub contract their own brand.).

Which just demonstrates (if true) how stupid the software industry is - I don't actually think this is likely though - they don't tend to manufacture graphics cards or mice/joysticks to support their software, and buy DRM solutions off the peg already.

As for dvd vs dongle well a couple of things, first a dvd is harder to loose then a dongle (I am forever misplacing my damn usb flash drive).

My Codemeter 'lives' with my PC most of the time. My 'regular' USB stick I keep on my keyring - I generally need my keys if I'm out, and if I need my 'regular files' it helps if I have them with me as well.

Also you may not have enough spare slots, for example my laptop if I was using a 4 port hub (I actually use a 7 port) would be completely filled (mouse, keyboard, joystick, printer, laptop cooler/mp3 player connection, external HD) would use up the 6 total ports (3-1 on the laptop and the 4 ports on the hub).

And while you are playing an entertainment product you need the printer why? Also don't laptops come with functional if not optimal keyboards and pointing devices already? Isn't an MP3 player not strictly essential during game play as well...

Also what is the life span of a usb dongle?

I've had mine for at least 3 years with no problems - and mine was one of the early ones with the 'hot' firmware, which caused some initial problems. A firmware update reduced power requirements (and improved reliability apparently).

As for why they are a pain for corporate use? well they are expensive, most of them have to be attached to the computer that will be using the program, they have tended to be single license single computer single program (god help you if you have 2 or more programs each needing one dongle attached). They also tended to get lost, stolen and or broken and need replacing (more expense). This is why a lot of corporations when dealing with them ended up using a broken executable.

So one that is cheap, can be installed either as a USB device or an PCI card on a 'server' within the network, and can serve multi-vendor, multi-product, multi-license software would be bad why?