1Passwd Reinvents Software Registration
There’s been much discussion lately about how to store all those crazy text strings that we get in order to license our software purchases. A cottage industry has popped-up just to service this growing need as we continue to expand our Applications folder day after day.
But even with all the checks put into place, it can still be a hassle if a serial number doesn’t apply correctly, and worse [for the developers] is that they’re still relatively easy to protect against the more unscrupulous software thieves amongst us. So what to do?
The developers of 1Passwd - the do it all password manager for OS X - have come up with a very cool [new?] concept. Embracing the graphic heritage of the Macintosh platform, and the drag=and=drop capability that OS X offers, they’ve taken to the idea of embedding all the serial number/licensing information right into a snazzy looking graphic they’re dubbing “License Cards”.
You’ll get the License Card for your software in an email, and then it’s just a matter of dragging and dropping it into the software to be registered, and you’re set. No nasty character-strings of license numbers, or potential screw ups in entry. They’ve even taken into account the software thieves - by placing personal information on the License Card, it becomes more of a deterrent for people to share those licenses. Of course there will be ways around this - it’s inevitable - but the concept is new and interesting, and I’m interested to see if it catches on.
#1 Matt Hoult says:Interesting yes, but there is something to be said about being able to catalogue, index, print and store not to mention backup licences (especially in the corporate world). If this was to take off it would have to be fully supported by keychain which wouldn’t do 1Passwd any good as Apple would have to pull a konfabulator on them I would imagine.
Still… I wonder how this would work across multiple machine belonging to a single user on a LAN.
#2 Neven Mrgan says:Make sure you read the (ample) feedback on the developer’s blog. It is overwhelmingly negative.
#3 joe says:yeah… whoopie…. now i can try to find a way to store dozens of graphic files, instead of easily copy/pastable, searchable text strings….
#4 Ahmad Azwa says:I think it’s brilliant! People will think twice before sharing their software license if their personal information is embedded onto the ‘License Card’.
#5 David Teare says:I’m not sure if the new license cards will “catch on” or not; we’re not interested in making money off of these cards, but rather wanted to “raise the bar” when it comes to registration. You’ll see all the code for these cards open-sourced soon.
The reason we changed was because I don’t think anyone would ever use the word “natural” when speaking about entering hexcodes. However, “natural” and “Mac-like” are often applied to graphics and drag-and-drop. Hence the reason we used them both. (BTW — natural can be applied to using links in emails like 1passwd://registration. We tried that, and while it did work well, the number of CS complaints about “broken links” was untenable)
While I personally love the new licenses, and most paying customers have given us wonderful applause, there have been many people who said they prefer text based registration codes. That’s cool. We won’t be forcing anyone to use the graphics; they can use the text-based ‘backup’ mechanism that is already available in 1Passwd, and will be expanded in the next version.
It’s all about giving users the best experience possible. I wonder, is that the definition of Mac?
Cheers!
Dave Teare
Co-author of 1Passwd.
#6 David Teare says:Looks like comments are moderated based on the number of links. Sorry for the repost, but here it goes w/o the links:
——————–
I’m not sure if the new license cards will “catch on” or not; we’re not interested in making money off of these cards, but rather wanted to “raise the bar” when it comes to registration. You’ll see all the code for these cards open-sourced soon.
The reason we changed was because I don’t think anyone would ever use the word “natural” when speaking about entering hexcodes. However, “natural” and “Mac-like” are often applied to graphics and drag-and-drop. Hence the reason we used them both. (BTW — natural can be applied to using links in emails like 1passwd://registration. We tried that, and while it did work well, the number of CS complaints about “broken links” was untenable)
While I personally love the new licenses, and most paying customers have given us wonderful applause, there have been many people who said they prefer text based registration codes. That’s cool. We won’t be forcing anyone to use the graphics; they can use the text-based ‘backup’ mechanism that is already available in 1Passwd, and will be expanded in the next version.
It’s all about giving users the best experience possible. I wonder, is that the definition of Mac?
Cheers!
Dave Teare
Co-author of 1Passwd.
#7 SwitchedtoMac says:There were a lot of people that made a hoopla about switching from the text based DOS to the GUI Windows or from Apple 2 (text) to Mac (GUI). In the end, most people would never go back to text only. We all have hard drives full of images, applications, movies, music that we have the task of backing up. So to say that backing up an image license is a problem as opposed to a text license just doesn’t seem like a plausible argument in my book.
#8 Derik says:Serial numbers can be stored in Yojimbo. Image files can not.
Consider myself not a fan.