CompuServe Messages

I'm not very fond of dongles, on a general principle. Though I recognize the value to a programmer (they make more certain that all the copies out there are paid for), they impose a tremendous hassle to the USER. Imagine a number of programs using dongles. Either you have to keep switching dongles as you load each (a real problem with a multitasking system like the Amiga), or you've got a 6 inch chain of dongles hanging out the back of your computer. In the past, chained dongles caused problems in a number of ways: each joint in the dongle chain added noise to the line (most often the parallel/printer port), or there were incompatabilities between the dongles (can't use dongle C with dongle F in the chain). Perhaps these problems have been cleared up, but they still impose a burden on the user. If a programmer wants to optionally use a dongle, I like the solution of offering two packages: one with not copy protection (no dongle) and a discounted offering including the dongle. In this way, the user can make his choice. Though in the past when this solution was offered, purchases overwhelmingly went to the unprotected package (probably a matter of selecting appropriate price levels for the two packages). JR (Holmes)