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RE[2]: Activation.
by sbergman27 on Fri 6th Oct 2006 13:34 UTC in reply to "RE: Activation."
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"""I really don't get this ... Why would you dismiss a perfectly good product because of activation?"""

I can understand the sentiment. I used to have to work with software that required activation. In fact, I still do, but not nearly as often.

A significant amount of time (time that my client was paying for) went into activation, registration... and the inevitable *problems* with activating and registering. (When things go wrong, and they do, it can take *hours* to get the problem resolved and the program "activated" so that the customer can start using the thing that they have *ALREADY PAID FOR* and are now paying more for, by the hour, in support time!)

The companies requiring the registration are saying, in a rather explicit fashion, that they care more about the possibility that someone might steal from them than they do about inconveniencing their own customers.

So, while I find the concept of "activation" distasteful, I also have purely practical reasons for disqualifying any product that requires it... *if* I have an alternative.

As it happens, right at this moment I have a client that I set up with software that requires activation. I registered and the activation key was supposed to have been emailed to me two days ago. It wasn't. Time to get on the horn and get the company, which in this case sells accounting software, to cough one up.

I shouldn't be upset, I suppose. It's all billable time...

Edited 2006-10-06 13:35

Reply Parent Score: 2