|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
A follow up.
Prognosis' Arjan van Gog latest reply to the dongle issue.
I, however, will go ahead to order the trial version(30days/U$75) and when on
ordering again will let Prognosis know what I think of the key and why I recent
the use of the extra piece of hardware:
-irritating
-nuisance
-possible error creating
-extra weight/burden
-user unfriendly
-compatabity problems
-storage+linking problems
Like the news, programs should always be made and be openly available, eg not
restricted. Just the succes of the Office97 software from Microsoft, measured by
the way it "slammed of" all of the other 'office' like software packets from everyones
computers, because of it "freely" availability(only program coded) proves that from
an normal commercialy and running a business wise point of view there is no need
for software makers to go run programs under their copy protecting safety locks.
If all software program makers would start to do this, hell will brake lose. Apart from
getting an endless row of hardware equipment being plugged into one another when
it is even possible size wise, no one can find and or are not able to solve for 100% sure
their 'error' creation causes of any of their system errors or system crashes, and will
just dump any possible software that might be the offender. The computer has to run
every day of the year. Period.
Uninstalling these type of programs has been the way in time to reduce for 90% any
errors or crashes. If they can't be fixed, then dump them.
Immitations(the illigal or 'cracked' versions) will only provide for more users, getting the
program more publicity, as such will get wider spread, used and recoqnised and running
and in more of this frequent usage more faqs or other related questions will be asked
and solved and answered, providing for a users friendly environment and another way
to get more out of the program by user as well as more and more users etc. etc.,
eg for the program to become a commercial hit.
WinZip is another good example of this type of programs becoming commercial hits.
As such I do not believe Prognosis statement that "older users have asked for this hard
lock" as programs price can only be kept low with programs having a quantative users
following and computer users generaly are not seeking for more "computer related" trouble.
I do respect Arjans and Prognosis honest reply and stand in this(Prognosis is a smaller
company) and have also offered the suggestion for them to make a Users List available
for their worldwide ELWAVE users(much like the Metastock List). This certainly will be
considered, Arjan said, and for the moment they will be setting up this part of their always
free available support as an Users email support service, eg sending on to others the
questioned queries from others, and Prognosis replies to the subject(s), all done by
internet email. I hope that this will be a succes.
Arjan also mentioned the key to be a small hardware lock and as such in size should not
give any placing/space problems.
Regards,
Ton Maas
Ms-IRB@xxxxxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Maas,
>A.J. Maas wrote:
With refrence to our telephone conversation a while ago, I hereby send you
a copy that I have send to another member of the Metastock Users Group List in
wich I am replying to a number of fragmental questions and some issues raised
as to the discussion that has taken place within the group.
Futhermore I have been in contact with the supplier of the by us used hardware
lock. There is a serious possibility that in the month of November 1998 an USB
version of this key will become available. As this is with reservation to futher news
and as there is no price available as yet for the key or for the level of compatibility
with the older key(regarding the recoqnistion by our software) therefore at the
moment I cannot make any statement on the question as to when we will start to
offer this key as an option.
Yours sincerely,
Arjan van Gog
> --------------------------------------
> > What the heck is a Dongle?
>
> A dongle is a piece of hardware which attaches to one of the ports on
> the back of the machine. It's a copy protection scheme; when the
> software which uses it queries that port, it returns a value. That way
> they can sell the software with no copy protection; it just queries the
> port and if it doesn't get the value back that it likes, it won't run.
> If you run the software WITHOUT the dongle, it gets back no value, which
> of course, also causes it not to run.
>
> It's called a dongle, but it's spelled "colossal_pain_in_the_ass" for
> certain uses. Some don't have a passthrough capability, so you can't
> plug whatever _was_ in the part into it, some are quite large, so you
> can't scootch the machine up to the wall since it sticks out so far, and
> some of us who use laptops _and_ home machines are constantly having to
> move the damned thing
> -------------------------------------
The description of the dongle as a device is fairly accurate. The
'colossal_pain_in_the_ass' bit is, in our opinion, not. Earlier version
of our software used a software based copy protection scheme. We have
switched to a hardware based protection as the result of many requests
from our early users to do so. So even if some people apparently have a
distaste for dongles, many people have no problem with them at all. One
reason we can think of is that someone who has paid a lot of money for a
piece of specialized software likes the notion that those who have not
paid anything cannot bennefit from the software.
The disadvantages summed up above (no pass-through, large) are not true
for our device, the Sentinel SuperPro from Rainbow Technologies. The
laptop/home issue does not seem to be a problem for our users. I know of
several of our users who use the software on both laptop and desktop
machines and we have not had any complaints.
Other schemes, such as simple license keys, do not offer any real copy
protection. It takes only minutes to find a license key for just about
any piece of commercial software on the internet.
> --------------------------------------.
> Hi Ton,
>
> It's a device placed on the parallel port of a computer with a micro
> chip.
>
> The software has built in code that looks for the device, either at
> the start or at some other "critical" moment, and refuses to work if
> it cannot read the "single". The printer is plugged into the single,
> and the printer signal is passed through.
Again, fairly accurate.
> I've had bad experiences with a Tradestation single, and a
> Perkin-Elmer single. In the case of Perkin Elmer (buying over
> $100,000 worth equipment), I switched to no single software from
> Hewlett Packard. So far we have spent over $500,000 in new equipment
> from HP. There is nothing worse than a single failure at a critical
> time.
We have no experience with the Perkin-Elmer single, so I can't say
anything about that. Tradestation seems to be a very popular package,
despite its price, so I assume that most users have no problem with the
dongle.
> It is my pleasure NOT to buy anything with a single. You will find
> that most if not all dongled software sooner or later becomes poorly
> supported, and disappears. The author feels he has the user captive,
> and significant updates become more and more scarce. Then one day, a
> single free "upstart" software company comes along and does the final
> killing (ELLWAVE could have been the killer of GET, but GET should not
> have any fear now).
There is no ground for the statement that 'dongled software sooner or
later becomes poorly supported, and dissappears'. In fact, we believe
the reverse is true. Seeing large numbers of illegal copies would be
very demotivating to say the least. Companies need a steady income to be
able to continue developing their products. This does not mean however
that we feel that we have the user captive. The dongle does not expire,
and it is because we use a dongle that we can allow users to download
the latest version of our software from our website.
In the area of Elliott Wave software, I can tell you that it has taken
us several years to develop the software to the point where it is now.
It is because we want to protect this huge investment that we use a
dongle. As far as ELWAVE being the killer of Get, we have no interest in
'killing GET'. It's a fine piece of software, although we do believe
that our Elliott wave analysis is much better than GET's.
> The basic problem however, is that most dongled software sells to a
> vertical market, and costs $50-75 more just for the device. I can
> understand the rationale of the developer.
Exactly. If we were selling a high volume/low cost product, we wouldn't
even consider using a dongle. Depending on price and volume, we may not
incorporate any copy protection at all.
> What the developer does not realize, is the learning curve of any
> software is high. So even if the software is pirated, subsequent
> "revisions" or new versions will be bought. The first pirated copy
> serving as a "salesman's" commission, and a "hook" to get a buyer.
> Naturally, support is important, which is the part missing in
> "dongled" software.
If someone can get a copy for free, the urge to buy the software is
significantly reduced. We do not use the dongle as a substitute for
support. We are capable of giving support to our users because we know
that all users of our software have paid for the software. If this
wasn't the case, we would have to increase the price (thereby making
pirating even more attractive) or cut on support, which is not an
option. If someone pays a lot of money for a piece of software, he
expects a certain level of support and we are determined to give that
kind of support.
--
Prognosis Software Development
Phone: +31.15.2123543 Fax: +31.15.2132558
email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxx
World Wide Web: http://www.prognosis.nl
|