Hey James,
Yeah, I know Brainworx have the stick method, and I definitely wouldn't single them out at all, it's just that this thread happens to have started with me looking for one of their older licences from when they did do iLok (still running my old TDM systems anyway, so can use older versions of their plugs), and I wanted to use Spectrasonics as an extreme example.
And yes, I'd definitely prefer not to have another dongle to carry/break/lose.
It's a real love hate thing with iLok. I love it, but there's lots of vendors who don't use iLok, and to be honest I have decided against buying their products in the past, so in some cases like mine, it IS affecting sales. The example I was going to point out is Fab Filter.
https://www.fabfilter.com/forum/2981/ilok-support
That thread is almost exactly 50/50 split between lovers and haters. I'd side with the professional guys who have to change post production seats all the time, and don't need the hassle that non iLok licences can cause.
Cheers for the comments. Most welcome.
Steve