Dear software manufacturers

[karohemd]

Printing the serial number/activation code on the CD is stupid because when you need it, the CD will be in the drive. Morons.

Comments

[pir.livejournal.com]

It does, however, make it hard to separate from the CD and difficult to lose... which means fewer support calls to the company. You can copy the serial number to something else, it's not as convenient for you but it does make some sense.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

This is true but it's a 20-digit code.

[pir.livejournal.com]

and those 20 digits will still be on the CD when people have lost any of the bits of paper that came with it. This isn't about your convenience.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I guess they have to cater to the lowest possible denominator...

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Adobe's solution always struck me as a sensible compromise - they write the code onto the CD case. You'll still have the case the first time you install the thing, then once you notice that's where the code is you can either avoid separating the disc from the case or, if you really want to keep the disc somewhere else, you can copy the code to some location of your choice.

[pir.livejournal.com]

I think the best compromise is the companies who print it on the case and the CD but that costs more money to produce.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

I suppose it would be too sensible to suggest putting the code on the individual CDs, and printing "code is on the cd, please type into notepad & copy onto your mouse buffer before inserting cd and starting install" on all the cases?

[pir.livejournal.com]

I tend to write then down in a file so I have them, annoyingly a lot of places where you type them in won't actually let you paste into them, especially when they're separated into different boxes where the dashes are in the number *looks at microsoft*... and of course there are the support calls from people who don't understand the instructions (some people can fail to understand anything).