[elmor fudd]

Iv owned v23 for 3 years now and although i wasnt very happy at the begining with the sales tactics it has grown on me so i downloaded the v24 version a few weeks ago to trial and have been bombarded with calls ever since (to be honest i expected it).
Now the V23 version i have came without the dongle and is a complete nightmare to transfer it over to another pc or the same goes for if anything goes wrong with the pc that its already on so with this in mind i asked bobcad for v24 with dongle to which i was told they dont do the dongle anymore so with that in mind they missed a sale on the day from me.
Since then iv searched on here and seen many other people who would like to see the return of the dongle but this also raised a concern with me with regard to the version i have now that dosent have a dongle.
If Bobcad should go belly up (bankrupt) and my pc crashes and i need to cotact Bobcad for the activation key then has any provision been put in place to make sure i can still use my software many years after Bobcad have gone out of business??
The same question goes to the V24 version also because im not going to spend out on the V24 without a dongle if provisions havent been made for such an event happening.
Personally i think the dongle would be the safer bet and get Bobcad more sales but thats up to them so with that in mind i think i might have to look at another system other than Bobcad as a safeguard.

[BrassBuilder]

I had the same concerns about my computer crashing and/or the program suffering a serious crash and not working by installing it on one computer. So....since I have four computers....(actually 3 now....one went belly up but it didn't have Bobcad installed yet) I had them supply me with a license for all four computers (3 laptops and 1 desktop). I'll install the fourth license on the replacement laptop as soon as I buy it.

I'm thinking and hoping that Bobcad isn't going out of business any time soon.

But I also agree....I'd rather have the dongle.

Mike

[elmor fudd]

Seeing has we have bobcad staff on this forum i would have thought one or two of them may have given an answer to this question?
Im not saying bobcad will go bust but theres always a maybe so it would be nice to know that we could carry on using it in years to come if it did happen.
One thing is for sure,i wont be buying V24 in a hurry until the question is answered or the dongle is reintroduced.
Think surf cam may be the next purchase.

[aldepoalo]

elmore,

I understand your concern about your license. Bobcad currently uses soft license protection, using a license id and password your can register your software on line.

I don t know what would make you think BobCAD would be going out of business... after 27 years we continue to grow as a company. So with tha being said hardlocks.

We do not offer hard locks for v24. As far as I know this is not changing.

[John S.]

One thing is for sure,i wont be buying V24 in a hurry until the question is answered or the dongle is reintroduced.
Think surf cam may be the next purchase.

Why would someone want to jump ship to another software package and loose all their expertise and training to re-learn a new package unless something was seriously wrong.
Personally I like the software lock as I move about a lot and dongles are like USB sticks and I'm on my 10,000th one of those

If I have a computer problem I can get a new password within one working day, A dongle would be best end of a week.

As regards them packing up, in your case why worry you are prepared to swap programs at the drop of a hat anyway.

[elmor fudd]

I haven't suggested that bobcad is or will be going out of business its an hypothetical question.
Is there provisions in place if in the event that they do so that people will still be able to unlock the version they have if need be?

If there isn't any provision then whats the point in spending more money on the latest version of bobcad then another version and another and so on to end up spending thousands over the years for all later versions of bobcad to be unusable is what I'm saying so id say by me switching now would be a better bet for a software that has a dongle rather than to be out of pocket and with cadcam thats no good later down the line.

While i also understand that bobcad may have been in business for a good many years and hopefully many more years to come i also know that business's can go to the wall even after operating for 100 years or more so i will ask again.

Is there any provision in place?

[John S.]

Elmor,
If they did go mammary gland challenged [ tits up ] then you wouldn't be the only guy in the same boat and someone would soon crack the latest version, been done before.
Bobcad wouldn't and couldn't mind if they had vanished.

However if you switch to Surfcam, who's to say they won't go pear shaped in a couple of years and leave you with a dongle that has an expiry date ? Do you know for certain that the dongles are good for 10 - 15 years ?
What happens if the dongle breaks or is lost ?

[elmor fudd]

Elmor,
If they did go mammary gland challenged [ tits up ] then you wouldn't be the only guy in the same boat and someone would soon crack the latest version, been done before.
Bobcad wouldn't and couldn't mind if they had vanished.

However if you switch to Surfcam, who's to say they won't go pear shaped in a couple of years and leave you with a dongle that has an expiry date ? Do you know for certain that the dongles are good for 10 - 15 years ?
What happens if the dongle breaks or is lost ?

You raise a good point about the dongle and thats taken on board but id still like to know if bobcad have thought of this and out anything in place.

[John S.]

You raise a good point about the dongle and thats taken on board but id still like to know if bobcad have thought of this and out anything in place.

Funny question to ask any company.
Did you ask at Woolworth's last time you bought anything, like hey mate how goods the one year guarantee on this widjit only to find out they had gone bump later.
If you have to ask for one company you need to ask every company you buy from.

I suppose guarantees were the last things on Woolworth's minds when they were fighting to survive.

[BurrMan]

I think Al answered the question. There is no dongle. If a company goes belly up, they wont be continuing any type of license program.

Your recourse for your scenario is to backup your computer. So if BobCad vanishes, AND your computer breaks, you can restore your system.

I dont think a Dongle solves this dilema though, like Joe pointed out.

Also, I would imagine that after BobCad goes belly up, that we may be running something different by then??? Like BobCad V28 that utilizes the new licensing scheme developed by Herve locumaker from MIT. You know, the one that licenses from the world cloud and has a backup stored in Universal space with redundancy through the wormhole continuum! I dont have any windows 95 computers sitting around anymore, although I remember throwing a few out that I paid $3500.00 for.. Anybody remember those days?

[elmor fudd]

Funny question to ask any company.
Did you ask at Woolworth's last time you bought anything, like hey mate how goods the one year guarantee on this widjit only to find out they had gone bump later.
If you have to ask for one company you need to ask every company you buy from.

I suppose guarantees were the last things on Woolworth's minds when they were fighting to survive.

No body spent £1000's and Woolworths did they especially on cadcam software.

I think Al answered the question. There is no dongle. If a company goes belly up, they wont be continuing any type of license program.

Your recourse for your scenario is to backup your computer. So if BobCad vanishes, AND your computer breaks, you can restore your system.

I dont think a Dongle solves this dilema though, like Joe pointed out.

Also, I would imagine that after BobCad goes belly up, that we may be running something different by then??? Like BobCad V28 that utilizes the new licensing scheme developed by Herve locumaker from MIT. You know, the one that licenses from the world cloud and has a backup stored in Universal space with redundancy through the wormhole continuum! I dont have any windows 95 computers sitting around anymore, although I remember throwing a few out that I paid $3500.00 for.. Anybody remember those days?

Sounds like a feasable answer so we shall have to wait and see what comes up next.

[segengineering]

Hi all,
I read this thrad with great interest, as if you look at some of my older post, you'll see I have been calling for DONGLES for V24 for ages.
As for the replacement soft licence being done in a day, its not that easy for us outside of the US.
I currently own 4 seats for V24, and have 2 of the workshop PC's that have gone "belly" or "tits UP", looking around for suitable replacements that are running XP, then will have all the hassle of trying to get new licences from BobCad, especially as the workshop PC's are not connected to the internet.
The old DONGLE system was definatly better, it all seems to come down to BobCad not wanting people to sell on there old versions of BobCad, when they upgrade, (you won't be able to sell your V24, as no one else will get a licence for it).
If only BobCad cared enough to listern to its customers.

[John S.]

The old DONGLE system was definatly better, it all seems to come down to BobCad not wanting people to sell on there old versions of BobCad, when they upgrade, (you won't be able to sell your V24, as no one else will get a licence for it).
If only BobCad cared enough to listern to its customers.

Interesting point.
Technically you should not sell your old versions as in most cases the newer versions are upgrades, not outright buys, therefore the earlier version is part payment to the later version.

Gibbscam and PTC, to name two, are on dongles and when you upgrade you have to hand them in and get a new dongle unless you pay full price.
only then can you sell the old copy on but it's at their digression whether they support the new owner.

[BurrMan]

Technically you should not sell your old versions as in most cases the newer versions are upgrades, not outright buys, therefore the earlier version is part payment to the later version.

This type of stuff is what makes the need to have anything locked down at all.

I have seen it be painful for some who live in other countries, but todays technology kindof limits that argument. I mean, we can look and talk to each other in an instant over the internet.. But if there was some type of limiting factor, I think this is what you would look for a reseller for. Like if I want to buy a software made by a french company, I dont call france. I use a reseller here in my own country, and deal with them.

Are there any resellers in the UK?

[aldepoalo]

duplicate

[aldepoalo]

yes we do have a reseller in the uk, eda solutions is the company name.

[shred]

Sooner or later, somebody is going to figure out you can sell a whole lot more seats at $200 than $2000 and skip all the screwing around with copy protection that doesn't work against the people that were just going to copy it anyway (google 'Bobcad crack', but don't click the links without good antivirus ....)

At least with the dongle, the people that had legitimate copies could move them around at will instead of trusting somebody will be there on a weekend or holiday or ever.

[BurrMan]

google 'Bobcad crack'

My identity was stolen? how did that happen!

Dongles are the easiest to crack, BTW, with no recourse for the company. Hence, online licensing.

[aldepoalo]

You can register on line with out any human interaction. In the future you'll be able to de register your license on line with out any human interaction.

The install disk that you are sent with your purchase has a 5 day full featured mode. I am sure that those 5 days will be enough to sort out any licene issue after hours or over any holiday. Our office is never closed for more than a few days at a time.

Hey guys I do understand a lot of people like hard locks. Maybe our license protection will change in future versions, for now no hard locks.

[aldepoalo]

You can register on line with out any human interaction. In the future you'll be able to de register your license on line with out any human interaction.

The install disk that you are sent with your purchase has a 5 day full featured mode. I am sure that those 5 days will be enough to sort out any licene issue after hours or over any holiday. Our office is never closed for more than a few days at a time.

Hey guys I do understand a lot of people like hard locks. Maybe our license protection will change in future versions, for now no hard locks.