Marianna:

I promise to keep you posted ....

Thanks for the keeping us posted. Great to know that Avid are listening to, and considering all arguments.

Is it difficult to return to the dongle activated system? I still have to use the dongle for the BorisFX products and Genart's Sapphire. I have been told Borris and Genart's will provide "software" activation folders to substitute for the dongle but I have not heard back from either company regarding the software.

 

Thank you.

 

Don R.

general_failure:

@Atomike: I don't know any other company disussing in this open manner with its customers. So I am happy right now that we can talk to them. Also, I do not know any other licensing scheme that was as supporting to its customers like Avids was.

I think this whole thing is alot like voting in Venezuela. You can pretend to cast your vote. The people taking the votes may even be attentive and polite. However, AVID is still going to do what it's going to do. Everyone seems delighted that Marianna and others are paying attention to us. But what has actually been done? Has AVID even remotely hinted that the dongles will remain? No. If nothing happens as a result, then all this "listening" is simply patronizing. That, I absoutely do not appreciate, and can't see how AVID is even remotely any different than any non-listening ivory tower company.

AVID has simply decided that the users DO NOT MATTER on this issue. Maybe AVID listened in the past. They do not listen now. No matter how many AVID employees post here, AVID does not care even a little bit about OUR wishes in this matter. I'm not going to pretend that I respect this phony show. I respect results.

Atomike:

AVID has simply decided that the users DO NOT MATTER on this issue.

A bold statement considering that the initial policy (that came to light with the 3.5 upgrade) is the only one we have heard from them. It has only been since then that users have stated views on the subject and have been openly heard. The Avid Customer Services person then comes here and tells us the decision is not set in stone and has personally taken our concerns to the manager in charge. In my language that is far more than lip service.

Atomike:

AVID does not care even a little bit about OUR wishes in this matter. I'm not going to pretend that I respect this phony show. I respect results.

Will you eat your hat when the final decision is made in our favour? 

"... I still have to use the dongle for the BorisFX products and Genart's Sapphire ..."

Not necessarily.

Genarts will switch your license to a NIC-based Mac Address version.  We did this with all of our DS's and Symphony Nitris's when the DS dongle went away.

Which Boris product are you referring to?  With BCC, you can use a generated unique product code, to get a license from them.  the code is based on various system identifiers, not necessarily the Avid System ID or Serial Number.

 

... and my vote is Keep the Dongle!

Atomike:

Everyone seems delighted that Marianna and others are paying attention to us. But what has actually been done? Has AVID even remotely hinted that the dongles will remain? No.

Atomike:

AVID has simply decided that the users DO NOT MATTER on this issue. Maybe AVID listened in the past. They do not listen now. No matter how many AVID employees post here, AVID does not care even a little bit about OUR wishes in this matter. I'm not going to pretend that I respect this phony show. I respect results.

Jeez, I think you need to slow down - you haven't even given them time to release the version that is supposedly going to be the first fully dongle-less Media Composer.

So what are you wanting, an Avid employee posting every 3-4 hours saying "We haven't forgotten about the dongle issue"?  The people who have the power to make the decisions that would affect us attend meetings to get briefed from their staff regarding what the Users want.  There are daily and weekly meetings held about this kind of stuff.  I can assure you that the requests for keeping the dongle have been heard loud and clear by the people that can make that decision.  v3.5 was the first to introduce the SWA alternative with the implication that v4.0 would see the death of the dongle, the users have spoken out.  v3.5.1 has only just been released a few weeks ago - these "results" that you're demanding may not come to fruition for some time.  The only way to know for sure if the Users have been heard is to see if v4.0 is released with a dongle.  

Not to spin this thread out of control into a political nature (but I feel that it exemplifies my point) - but from the way I read your logic here one could also say "hey, we elected a new president in Nov how come the economy is still bad? Wasn't he supposed to fix it?"    

And of course, Avid is not a democracy - ultimately the decisions they make are their own, but they do have to consider the fallout from it's own decisions.  Even your own Congressman can hear the people's voice on matters, but often times, they vote based on other factors - this does not mean that your Congressperson doesn't value your opinion or your feelings on a particular issue.  It means that they likely know and understand a bit more about the situation than we ever could because they are much closer to the inside than we are.  

So relax, wait for v4.0 and if it does if fact prove to be the version that killed the dongle, then feel free to argue your point to your heart's content.  

 

"... wait for v4.0 and if it does if fact prove to be the version that killed the dongle, then feel free to argue your point to your heart's content. ..."

If a version is ever released that finally kills the dongle option, there will be no reversing that decision.  The only hope many feel they have is to stop that decision, before it happens.

Although every argument has been made, and any new posts are somewhat repetitive, this thread and others keeps Avid aware of the user base's rejection of their plan.  Especially those of us that have rental and/or portable systems.

Keep The Dongle!

Randall L Rike:

If a version is ever released that finally kills the dongle option, there will be no reversing that decision.

True, true...

But isn't 3.5 bought new and now already shipped without a dongle?

I am so lucky having bought 3.1.2 in late February 09!!!

Randall L Rike:

any new posts are somewhat repetitive, this thread and others keeps Avid aware of the user base's rejection of their plan.  Especially those of us that have rental and/or portable systems.

Keep The Dongle!

Some people say if your counterpart doesn't understand your point, repeat it untill he does! Keep the dongle!

g_f

 

Randall,

 

In the BorisFX product line, I am referring to Boris Continuum Complete and Boris RED.

Sunday evening I sent e-mails to Genarts and BorisFX asking for the file that will substitute for the AVID dongle. So far, I have not received a reply. I am not pressing either company as I have plenty of time and my plug-ins are working with the AVID dongle inserted in the USB port.

Would probably have remained with the dongle rather than going thorugh the software license procedure and still having to rely upon the dongle.

It is very likely both companies are working on a reasonable solution to the problem so I will remain calm and continue to use my half and half dongle/software-license system.

Thank you again for the software substitution possibility.

 

 

 

Randall L Rike:

"... wait for v4.0 and if it does if fact prove to be the version that killed the dongle, then feel free to argue your point to your heart's content. ..."

If a version is ever released that finally kills the dongle option, there will be no reversing that decision.  The only hope many feel they have is to stop that decision, before it happens.

I was referring to his argument that Avid has proven that it is not listening and only patronizing us.

 

Let's keep the dongle.

Why would you want to rely on a massive complex infrastructure instead of a simple thing that you can carry in your pocket?

Imagine you are out in the field where there is no internet access (this happens at corporate clients offices a lot, Internet access is for employees only).  If you need to switch to a different laptop you're pretty much dead in the water if you have online activation.

The dual system is OK.  People who want Internet activation are welcome to it

 

I don't find Avid patronizing in general. The response out here, the help Marianna, BLKDOG and many others have given, The help from avid support (and its resellers) and the recent functional additions to MC show avid listening to its customers.

But why I do find Avid patronizing in THIS case is the argumentation by which avid has started this thing. It says that they removed the dongle because we "the users" requested this....??????

This forum is one of the best and most active application support forums in existence. Wouldn't it be logical that we would find some users indeed requesting the removal of the dongle out here during the past years? As far as I can remember the dongle was under discussion in the times of the adb dongle on power mac and parallel dongles on PC and both PC and mac adopting the USB standard.

In this thread only for the academic version and systems located in educational facilities have clear logical arguments been given why software activation is preferred over dongle activation.

My point: I am willing to go the software activation route if proven functional. But no arguments have been given BY AVID why I would want that, nor why I should give it a try. Till now I was perfectly happy with my dongles and have no reason to change. I think it is fair to ask from both you Marianna and BLKDOG as Avid representatives to explain, regardless of your personal opinions, what the real motivation is behind this move and why we the users should want software activation.

From my perspective all these "end to end support" (xdcam) and "requested by many users" (dongle) terms and "upgrade price politics" (MC 3.5) seem to come out of a marketing and sales department not completely in sync with the "intellectual level" of its loyal users! 

jveekeres:

In this thread only for the academic version and systems located in educational facilities have clear logical arguments been given why software activation is preferred over dongle activation.

My point: I am willing to go the software activation route if proven functional. But no arguments have been given BY AVID why I would want that, nor why I should give it a try. Till now I was perfectly happy with my dongles and have no reason to change.

Then don't change.  You don't have to.  Everyone is getting excited over a future release that has absolutely no public timetable.  Personally I have gone the SW activation route on three systems (not in academia) and it works just fine.  One server glitch and everyone is in an uproar.  I have not seen such "sky is falling" mentality since Avid tried to dump the Mac years ago, and like that decision where Avid came around to keeping both platforms alive, there is probably hope for the dongle in the future.  And, as BLKDOG said, this is a new process that is evolving.  So besides the call for keeping the dongle option (which certainly sounds like the one that will make some folks happy) maybe we can offer some constructive ideas to the company on the SW side.  Like I said...for me, the SW activation has had no problems for my three systems that reside many miles apart.

 

Did you undercome any difficult situation like a theft or a disc/mobo crash while having MC activated?

This is the question.

The hard drive crash is probably the worst case scenario.

I am using a hard drive array that backs up my projects and all media files. In case of a crash I can just plug in that array into my second work station, import my projects, PLUG IN THE DONGLE and I am able to work again on my project in about 1 minute. That means I will be able to meet the deadline and keep my client.

If I were to go down the software activation road, the way I understand it I would need to get onto phone support and explain what happened, since I OBVIOUSLY couldn't deactivate my license. I can't just do it online (correct me if I am wrong).

Throw in problems with the internet connection or a server problem and I may just loose my client because I can't meet the deadline.

Why throw away such an elegant solution as the dongle? It is a unique selling point of the application, which makes Avid stand out from it's competitors.

By binning the dongle Avid is just getting closer to it's mediocre competitors. Surely that can't be in the company's interest?

Keep the dongle!