Voda La Void
I just can't really contemplate the rage that would overcome my self control when faced with perfectly working software and hardware...but I'm out of business over a freakin dongle that was never in my interest in the first place.  

1. Piracy most definitely impacts the income of creators of intellectual property such as software developers (just ask any employee of the hundreds of record companies that no longer exist). No software developers equals no software. So the dongle is in your interest regardless of whether or not you care to believe it is.
2. Software is useless without hardware to run it on. All hardware is prone to failure. Adding a dongle to the mix does not move the needle more than 0.001% in terms of your odds of having a hardware failure impact your ability to run your system.
3. Even without a dongle, you're still likely to have some sort of copy protection/authorization scheme. There is plenty of perfectly good software out there that can no longer be authorized because the company went out of business and the authorization servers have long since gone off line.

Voda La Void

ooblecaboodle
What grinds my gears is that every tom dick and harry seems to be trying to make their own version, so now I need a usb port for an iLok, a Waves USB Key, a Merging dongle, and so on and so forth. 
 
 

Further, you're at the mercy of every one of those to maintain the dongle solution and how they apply it to software releases.  Dongle A works for Version A, then a few years down the line Version A is no longer supported and they have developed a new dongle B to work with Version B, and "unfortunately" dongle A isn't supported either since it goes with Version A software...dongle A breaks and...you're done.  But no worries - just buy their new Software Version B!  

I agree. In defence of iLok (again), we have some very very old software we still use occasionally, authorised on the original style iLoks. We can't authorize any new software to those old iLoks, but the authorisation still works for the old software.
 
To clarify a little, we keep them on separate older dongles due to ease of use.
We have software that we use all the time on the modern ones, so the iLoks basically live in one of three studio machines. We don't want those dongles to have to be moved from studio to studio mid-session when the older software is required elsewhere, so we keep it on a separate dongle.
 

JohanSebatianGremlin
 

Voda La Void
But when - not if - the unsupported dongle fails...it's over.  Now you have to buy the newest version of whatever it is, which won't be compatible with your old operating system and hardware, and etc....you get to reinvent your DAW and thin your wallet.  Yay! 
 

If the dongle fails, you buy another dongle and load the license on it. Simple. If we're talking about a case where the company no longer exists, then you're just as screwed as you'll be when -not if- you get to the point where you need to do a clean install.


 

 
Only on a "clean" install, for any *online* authorization.  And a disk image circumvents all of that. Again, more options when I don't have a dongle or a cyclic authorization solution.  NONE of my software on my computer is a dongle or cyclic authorization.  In fact, all of my software with the exception of windows has no online authorization at all.  Waves and Fab Filter support one time dongle authorization for machines that don't go online - I do my image after, and yay, I'm done.  Set.  You can't do that with software that requires a dongle or cyclic authorization. Image all you want, you'll still be a dependent on a cheap chip made in China.  
 
Further, I was also talking about how software manufacturers are going to start screwing you with the dongle by "upgrading" dongle platforms and inventing "new features", and then *removing support* for previous dongles, with the proverbial "we're so sorry, but unfortunately you'll have to upgrade to our new software to get the new dongle platform"....all because your dongle broke for 10 year old software.  It will happen.  I'm 46.  I've been around.  It. Will. Happen.  It doesn't take any imagination at all to see this coming... 
 

Because of a theft prevention device that's built on the concept of not trusting you, the person who bought it. 
 

EVERY software authorization scheme is built on that concept.

 
Correct.  That's why I prefer authorization schemes that don't require residual authorization throughout the life of the software, nor dongles.  All of my software conforms to my preferences, since most of us like it that way. It's already bad enough that I, the paying customer, have to prove I own something after I own something because the software company doesn't have the imagination to come up with a theft prevention solution that doesn't impact the customer after the sale - to then require me to invest even more money and time, and agree to be impacted for the entire life use of the product is a bridge too far, for me. 
 
One time authorization, upon install only, like every single software program on my machine (including my brand new DAW machine) avoids the problems of screwing paying customers.  The only programs I have that even do online authorization are windows. 
 

3 - Right, that's why I prefer authorization schemes that don't require residual online authorization or dongles.  

I prefer a steak and a BJ when I get home every night so where does that leave us? Just two more schmucks with dreams that will never come true.

 
Speak for yourself.  I'm living the dream, right now.  You're the one with dongles and rationalizations.  I don't own a single dongle, nor does any of my software require me to go get authorization on the regular.  I've been disconnected for quite some time.  My new DAW works the same way.  
 
 
Look, I have no problem with coexisting with dongles, ha ha.  It looks like a great option for some people.  They seem to really like it.  I don't see why I should run around convincing them it sucks.  Most people like replacing all their software and hardware every few years.  They upgrade their phones every year.  They foam at the mouth for OS updates to change things around and create a new look for their tools.  I just don't function that way.  I buy a tool and use it until it dies.  Dongles and cyclic authorization schemes don't work for my sensibilities and how I approach tools.  
 
 

Voda La Void
NONE of my software on my computer is a dongle or cyclic authorization.  In fact, all of my software with the exception of windows has no online authorization at all.  

And obviously that's the correct solution for you. It works for you and you're clearly happy with the results. 

My priorities are different. Not better, not worse, just different. I am not nearly as against authorization as you are and I personally would not find value in limiting my software choices to only those vendors who had authorization schemes which I found most convenient/least invasive. In fact, I would feel unduly constraned if I had to limit my musical palette in that way.
 
Put into abstract terms, your solution works for you because (I assume) you're perfectly content to paint what you paint without having access to certain colors. I happen to like some of those colors and what they bring to my work so its important for me to have them available. 
 

Further, I was also talking about how software manufacturers are going to start screwing you with the dongle by "upgrading" dongle platforms and inventing "new features", and then *removing support* for previous dongles, with the proverbial "we're so sorry, but unfortunately you'll have to upgrade to our new software to get the new dongle platform"....all because your dongle broke for 10 year old software.  It will happen.  I'm 46.  I've been around.  It. Will. Happen.  It doesn't take any imagination at all to see this coming...

Not for nothing but the sky is falling argument is generally a pretty weak argument. The sky could fall at some unspecified date in the future you just mark my words you young whippersnapper argument is even weaker. 
 
As we've already established, you don't have to justify your choices with anything stronger than 'its what I prefer'. If you like it that way, that's good enough. But the argument you're trying to make above is only ever going to convince you that your choices are valid.

And if you want to play the age card as proof of your wisdom, I got you beat by a few years. So everything you've seen and lived through, I've also seen and lived through. Companies that make it habit of screwing over their customers don't stay in business very long in my experience. Even big giant huge companies. Make too many choices that piss off too large a cross section of your customer base and you're going to find yourself struggling to keep the lights on. That's how the free market works.
 
 

Speak for yourself.  I'm living the dream, right now.  You're the one with dongles and rationalizations. 

Rationalizations? Really? I'm reminded of a story about a pot and a kettle and a certain very dark color... How did that go again?
 
 

Look, I have no problem with coexisting with dongles, ha ha.  It looks like a great option for some people.  They seem to really like it.  I don't see why I should run around convincing them it sucks.  Most people like replacing all their software and hardware every few years.  They upgrade their phones every year.  They foam at the mouth for OS updates to change things around and create a new look for their tools.  I just don't function that way.  I buy a tool and use it until it dies.  Dongles and cyclic authorization schemes don't work for my sensibilities and how I approach tools.  

Now you've hit it right on the head and nailed it. Couldn't agree more. Why are dongles so bad? The answer depends on you and your personal tastes. For some they aren't bad at all. For others, they're just horrible. It all depends on you, what you're willing to put up with and/or how important having access to certain software is to you.

JohnKenn
...
 
I realize that almost everyone has positive experience with dongles. Good relations with online activations.
 
...

I think that positive is probably an over statement. I think that most of us are neutral having had no really bad experiences but at the same time feeling that they are a bit of a necessary inconvenience. Lets face it every cracked copy of a software package is subsidised by the paying customers and the people that use cracked software get all of the benefits without making a contribution to the cost. I've probably heard all of the justifications over the years but I see them simply as self justification. Developers need to have the freedom to protect their work from misuse.
 
Seems to me that the people who REALLY "like" them are those who effectively use them to free themselves from being tied to a specific machine because as long as they have their dongle, and a free USB port, they can use their license. But this does not feel like a large user group. 
 
The people who REALLY "hate" them generally seem to be those who have had a major problem, simply don't have a free USB port or have heard so much bad stuff about them they see them as just too risky. There is no doubt that dongles have failed some users and whether its because of a bad dongle, incompatibility with a USB port, a driver, the motherboard or some other software, ultimately when the dongle "fails" the dongle gets the blame.
 
This is further aggravated by the developers failing to develop a suitable solution for a failure. I think that what people want when a dongle fails is the ability to use the software until the dongle is replaced and that the replacement should ideally be at the developers expense or at least subject to a reasonable discount.
 
Unfortunately too often the recovery process is too complex and convoluted making the legitimate user feel like they are being punished which is wrong. 
 
I currently sit in the neutral camp. Unless there is a radical change in what I do I don't see me ever exploiting the "use anywhere" freedom that a dongle offers, mine is in the back of the PC I'm running Cubase on and that's where I expect it to stay. Based on my experience to date I'm expecting the dongle to work OK if I am wrong then my perspective may change. Based on my research, and experience to date, Cubase is the right Sonar replacement for me, it needs a dongle and FOR ME that was not a deal breaker. 

Johan,
Thanks for the reminder on the registry cleaners. Had used the Rose City software for many years. Never had any observable troubles, but maybe why I get authorizations dumped on occasion.
 
I guess they are not needed these days. Just OCD about cleaning, not necessarily a good thing. Have found over time that about the worst offender of leaving a garbage trail is Kontakt. I can uninstall Kontakt and there are over 2500 orphaned reg entries left behind.
 
John

Good thing about the Rose City reg cleaner is that it scans everything, tries to rank a 3 tier safety level and displays the entries. As you said, problem is and always will be there when the operation is turned over to a generic algorithm. The user chooses which to delete, and as a result shoots himself in the foot when the OS is toast due to wiping out some vital entry. Really haven't noticed any benefit either, so have to break this evil habit.
 
Also appreciate some of Graham's (anydmusic) perspectives.
 
John