Be Aware…"Software Activation" (hardware bound) is abuse of customer loyalty

P
Posted By
p8mode
May 21, 2004
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238
Replies
6
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Closed
A long time happy user of many Adobe products including photoshop, I was just about to upgrade photoshop when I noticed the sign for "Activation".

Many customers are not certain of what this means and accept it since it seems to be "common" practice of late, thanks to Microsoft. By writing this, I want to inform/warn other customers what they are letting themselves in for by allowing software manufacturer’s to establish this practice of "activation", and send a message to Adobe that this alone is reason enough for me to choose the competing manufacturer’s (like Corel) products instead (despite the fact that Adobe’s in themselves are excellent, and Ive been happily been using earlier versions for years now).

For an eye opening discussion of some aspects of software activation that many consumers are largely unaware of check out:

< http://www.pcreviewonline.com/articles/activation/activation .html>

I resent the idea of product activation, and like many others am determined to boycott products requiring it. I appreciate that Adobe wishes to protect their software from illegal use, but this is not the way to do it, as it also puts an intolerable burden on honest paying customers, after they have already forked out their money. If each piece of software on my machine had to be reactivated then reinstalling the os or switching a hardware component would be a nightmare, and that -after- having paid for it all. Not to mention all the delays or extra problems that could be incurred :- my internet connection not working; an activation server is down; the manufacturer decides not to activate "old" products anymore, instead forcing me to upgrade….

I just wanted to let you know that by deciding to ride the Micro$oft wave of activation, as a means of catching all dishonest users, then you will be losing the custom of myself and many other honest individuals, as a result.

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RL
roger_leale
May 21, 2004
A bit over the top to my eyes! It certainly is not an "intolerable burden on honest paying customers". The idea that activation is just a sneaky method of forcing users to update at sometime in the future seems almost in the realms of paranoia, in fact I think that most people who have invested in a program like Photoshop look forward to updates, even if not immediately.
CW
Colin_Woodbridge
May 21, 2004
I guess you’ve exercised your prerogative by deciding not to buy but in reality how many times would you expect to have to re-activate. How many times do you change your hardware? What would it really cost to re-activate…a phone call!

This is not something new. For years professional S/W has come with various degrees of control, ranging from node locked to time limited, which you have to unlock each year by inserting $$$$. If it’s what you want then that’s the price you pay or go elsewhere.

Do you worry about having to pay the phone company or your ISP every month to keep your service? At least Adobe are not asking us to re-pay every year.
RB
Robert_Barnett
May 21, 2004
Sure we look forwards to updates. But, not being forced to update. You can’t tell me that with updates to programs being less and less worth while for the cost that people are going to constantly upgrade. Look at the number of people that haven’t yet upgraded from Windows 95, 98 or ME to Windows XP. This I can assure you ticks Microsoft off. They want your upgrade money and they want you to upgrade.

You can’t honestly tell me that with the way Longhorn is going (them having to leave features out or only getting certain ones done) that this isn’t going to hurt them with upgraders. Don’t you think Microsoft would love a way to force people to upgrade? This ensures that everyone has to do it or there older versions will stop being able to be installed and activated. It is the perfect solution to customers that don’t want to upgrade.

Oh, sure you can bet that Microsoft will be the first to try this as they have to deep pockets to handle the law suites and court battles. But, since history has shown that Microsoft tends to come out on top or not hurt with court battles that they will not win. Once the road has been cleared (does it say in the license agreements for any program that requires activation that they guarantee the software will always be able to be activated no matter what? No) that other companies like Adobe and Macromedia will do it too. After all this is what they have been wanting. Now they can make a ton of money of the upgrades they release and best of all it no longer matters if they are worth while or not.

If you don’t think corporate greed is capable of doing this then I fear you are pulling an ostrich maneuver and have you head in the sand. Profits need to keep rising, higher and higher and higher. These companies will do whatever they have to to ensure that it does.

And, don’t tell me that people will just jump ship and move to Linux or Mac or Gimp or something like that. If consumers were that coordinated the recording industry would have gotten a wake up call by now as consumers would have stopped buying music, any and all music. People would have done something about Microsoft and the buggy unsecured operating systems they have been releasing, etc. etc. Consumers are idiots and are easily lead around by the nose. Activation and forced upgrades will be no different.

Until companies put guarantees in their license agreements and ones that can’t be revoked when the company feels like it, I am not going to trust them. Only a boob would.

Robert
wrote in message
A bit over the top to my eyes! It certainly is not an "intolerable burden
on honest paying customers". The idea that activation is just a sneaky method of forcing users to update at sometime in the future seems almost in the realms of paranoia, in fact I think that most people who have invested in a program like Photoshop look forward to updates, even if not immediately.
JB
Jonathan_Balza
May 21, 2004
Only a boob would.

I’m a boob! 🙂

I personally prefer Activation over Hardware Key methods any day. It hasn’t been a problem for me yet, and I’ve both reformatted and bought a new computer since buying Photoshop CS.

I also agree with Roger that saying they will stop activating software in the future is borderline paranoia. Where in Adobe’s – or Microsoft’s – track record is there a precidence for that? When users did not migrate to XP as fast as Microsoft thought they would, what did MS do? They gave the users what they wanted and extended support for Windows 98. If they were trying to force upgrades, why on earth would they do that?

I would actually be more worried about Adobe, and what some people say it seems like they are trying to pull with PageMaker and InDesign. But would Adobe to the same to their flagship product? I think not.
RH
r_harvey
May 21, 2004
I personally prefer Activation over Hardware Key methods any day.

Some companies just don’t think very highly of their customers. Thieves are not their customers–they don’t want to be.

People who don’t trust other people, cannot be trusted.

(Cue Mr. Levine: "So, you don’t lock your font door?")
PA
Peter Aitken
May 21, 2004
wrote in message
A long time happy user of many Adobe products including photoshop, I was
just about to upgrade photoshop when I noticed the sign for "Activation".
Many customers are not certain of what this means and accept it since it
seems to be "common" practice of late, thanks to Microsoft. By writing this, I want to inform/warn other customers what they are letting themselves in for by allowing software manufacturer’s to establish this practice of "activation", and send a message to Adobe that this alone is reason enough for me to choose the competing manufacturer’s (like Corel) products instead (despite the fact that Adobe’s in themselves are excellent, and Ive been happily been using earlier versions for years now).
For an eye opening discussion of some aspects of software activation that
many consumers are largely unaware of check out:
< http://www.pcreviewonline.com/articles/activation/activation .html>
I resent the idea of product activation, and like many others am
determined to boycott products requiring it. I appreciate that Adobe wishes to protect their software from illegal use, but this is not the way to do it, as it also puts an intolerable burden on honest paying customers, after they have already forked out their money. If each piece of software on my machine had to be reactivated then reinstalling the os or switching a hardware component would be a nightmare, and that -after- having paid for it all. Not to mention all the delays or extra problems that could be incurred :- my internet connection not working; an activation server is down; the manufacturer decides not to activate "old" products anymore, instead forcing me to upgrade….
I just wanted to let you know that by deciding to ride the Micro$oft wave
of activation, as a means of catching all dishonest users, then you will be losing the custom of myself and many other honest individuals, as a result.

You really are paranoid, I must say! And you don’t value your time much either – how much time will you waste learning Corel just to avoid the Adobe activation that has yet to cause anyone any trouble? That article you cite is very poorly informed and completely illogical. On the one hand it says that companies will use activation to "force" customers to upgrade. Then it turns around and says that activation schemes are worthless because they are "easily cracked." Don’t you see the logical inconsistency here?


Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

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