Yesterday I brought you Microsoft patent could restrict content with Kinect and said
Well if this isn't one of the worst idea's ever than I shudder to think what idea's are out there that are worse!
Well I think this is actually a worse idea and it is truly face palm worthy!
A forum member over at Overclock.net has explained the problems he's having with his brand, spanking new mouse.
This really took me by surprise. Just bought a new Naga 2012 mouse, installed the software and get greeted by a login screen right after. No option to bypass it to use the software to configure the mouse, set the options, sensitivity, shortcuts, macros etc.
So I go ahead and create an account and try to log in. Nothing. Try several more times, and still nothing. Try to make new accounts with different email addresses and it still wont work.
Finally call Razer who tells me the activation server is down, and I wont be able to use the mouse until it goes back up and will only be able to use it as a standard plug and play mouse til then. I ask about a workaround to use the mouse offline and they say there is none. Supposedly once the mouse is activated on the computer offline mode will work, but it needs to upload my profile and activate my account first and since their server is down its not going to happen. I ask for a supervisor to confirm this is the case and ask again for a workaround to use it offline. He said sorry theres nothing they can do, tells me the call centre is closing and hangs up on me.
So I go ahead and create an account and try to log in. Nothing. Try several more times, and still nothing. Try to make new accounts with different email addresses and it still wont work.
Finally call Razer who tells me the activation server is down, and I wont be able to use the mouse until it goes back up and will only be able to use it as a standard plug and play mouse til then. I ask about a workaround to use the mouse offline and they say there is none. Supposedly once the mouse is activated on the computer offline mode will work, but it needs to upload my profile and activate my account first and since their server is down its not going to happen. I ask for a supervisor to confirm this is the case and ask again for a workaround to use it offline. He said sorry theres nothing they can do, tells me the call centre is closing and hangs up on me.
The idea behind this is to save your gaming preferences so when you go to a LAN or a friends house you can just download them again and start playing as opposed to setting up the mouse again. An offline mode if the software is supported but is not accessible until you have registered online, which is not available if the activation servers are down, making your nice new $80 mouse no better than a standard plug-n-play mouse you can pick up for cheap in bargain bins. Now, spare a thought for those people who bought their keyboards (some of which can be over $300!) as they can also be affected.
The post goes on to say that there is something unusual in the terms and services of the Synapse software.
Razer wants as much data as it can get ahold of, much like any other company or online service. The difference here is that registration is forced, with the device pretty much held hostage until the purchaser jumps through all the hoops, hopefully dropping lots of usable information along the way.
Unfortunately there is no way to get around this either. You either sign up and let the snooping happen, or continue using the expensive hardware with none of the benefits of expensive hardware.
Hardware the requires an active internet connection is definitely at the top of the list of 'stupidest, most ridiculous ideas ever'.
Source: www.techdirt.com
