Even if it is 2 simultaneous installs, that means I can only ever run it on my current PC and my next. That's not a good outlook, considering that I'm on my third PC in 5 years (which could very nearly have been my fourth). My last PC was a victim of Starforce, so it would not be the first time I've been burned by dracionian copy-protection measures (plus, Bet On Soldier ended up being a pile of shite anyway).
I don't use Steam at all. I'm no stranger to online activation (XP, anyone?) so when my mate originally told me the deal with his initial install of BS my immediate reaction was: hey, at least it's not Steam. How wrong I was, as it turns out.
Long-term, sadly, the only real solution would probably be a hack, crack 'n' repack. Dubious, I know, but in the event that 2K
did go bust, there wouldn't be much else. Besides which, by that stage it's likely that no one would care (the company's bust). The same goes for Valve with Steam. I don't condone warez, but if worst came to worst, my conscience would be clear. I've paid my way.
Another thing that occured to me, what measures are 2K going to put in place to ensure that this revoke tool can't be used by some warez monkey to hijack some poor bugger's legit CD key for their own use? Unless there's some unique piece of encryption on every disk (which I doubt) I can see that happening. Whilst not as apocalyptic, that actually happened to me with both my Q3A keys. I can't play on a server that has sv_strictauth enabled, despite having 2 legit copies of the game (Q3A and Q3Gold).
Ultimately, when I pay £30 for a game, I want to be able to wear the disk out if I see fit. Or, install the game and put the disk away in a nice neat corner, only ever to be used again if my PC screws up (once again, I'm no stranger). This is why I appreciate id enabling no-CD/DVD in their update patches, so you can play the game without the disk, providing you have a unique key
Like Pho said, more carrot, less stick.