<rant>
A user of mine who had tried a software I had released as an executable using the trial license offered by NI when first installing the Vision Development Module RTE, decided to go ahead and purchase a single user license from NI to be able to continue using it (note: I don' t get a dime from this transaction and in fact I would argue that being a research only tool, there should be no "Deployment License Fee" charged to any user, but this is another topic).
The user called NI, who told her that the product would ship in 3 days from now. The user reported this to me, and I immediately called NI to figure out what was going on. After all, the deployment license is a simple license number and there is no need to ship anything, since the RTE can be downloaded for free on NI's website.
Well, things are different at NI.
Yes, the website confirms that a deployment license doesn't need any delivery ("no media" is the only choice on the product page: http://www.ni.com/en-us/shop/select/vision-development-module). But still, when you purchase a license on Tuesday, it only "ships" on Friday.
I had to talk to two NI employees before I could get to the point where I was offered to get a "trial license extension" for my user (but no admission that the fact that a software license needs 3 days to be generated is backwards).
I certainly will not go through this a second time, and will clearly spell out the antiquated process that any potential user of my software will need to go through, should they desire to purchase a license...
<end of rant>
Idea: Make it simple to get a vision development module deployment license (as in quick email delivery shortly after online purchase).
