OpenID is an "open" (i.e. ownerless) technology designed to give you one user name and password for the entire internet. The following excerpt comes from the openid.net homepage.
In short, it is a way for users to create an identity online and use it anywhere OpenID is supported; this means a smoother, more secure, online experience. For businesses, this means a lower cost of password or account management, the opportunity for easier and higher numbers of new user registrations and the elimination of missed transactions
because of user frustration with lost and forgotten passwords.
OpenID is not a new technology (relatively, within the last few years), and as of July 2007 there are about 4,500 websites that accept it and 120 million people who use it. But most people have never heard of it, and if they have, they probably don't use it. Why is this? I mean, having a ton of user names and passwords online is a real pain that everyone feels on a daily basis, and you'd think that this would be growing like, well, that African fungus that grows 300 ft. a day!!! But it's not.
Here's a disclaimer: I'm not a computer engineer. I'm not an expert on consumer behavior. But I am a consumer, and I'm about as typical as you can get. So here it goes: people don't use OpenID because 1) the pain of having multiple user names and passwords online can be relieved more easily through other means, like, say, not signing in at all; 2) the websites where it IS worthwhile for me to create an account already remember me automatically, and 3) there is no "viral" quality to OpenID. I'm going to elaborate on these points below.
1) Pain relief- It is still far easier for me not to sign-in to a website than to try to figure out what an OpenID is and then sign-up for one. Lets think about the typical sign-in scenario: a) I go to YouTube.com to watch an exhilarating movie about bee-keeping (first off, they don't ask me to sign-in to see the movie because they know I'd never watch it if I had to sign-in first; I'm already an expert on bee-keeping, I don't really NEED to see this movie); b) I finish the movie, and want to post a comment for the movie creator that I enjoyed it immensely and want to see more like it; c) I don't already have an account with YouTube, so the site asks me to create an account before I can leave a comment; d) all of a sudden I feel extraordinary pain because I can't decide if posting a comment is worth the mental clutter of having ANOTHER user name and password to remember, so I decide I don't feel like leaving a comment anymore and move on to something else. Now, even if a big window popped-up in my face telling me that if I only signed-up for an OpenID I would never have to sign-in to another website again, I still wouldn't get an OpenID. I JUST got asked to create an account with YouTube! I can't handle the clutter! Not with YouTube, not with OpenID, not with anybody!
2) Then I proceed to the Wall Street Journal online. I don't have to sign in because their website remembers me automatically because I already created a free account here because its worth it. The New York Times is also worth it; I have an account there and they remember me too. I was born and raised on the internet, so by now I have already created an account at every website that seems worth the trouble. And they all remember me. So I feel no pain. And I don't need an OpenID.
3) So it seems that the only way I'd create an OpenID is if it were REQUIRED by a website that I deemed worthy enough to go to all that trouble. But I already have accounts at all the places that I think are worthy, and they all remember me, so a NEW website would have to come along and require me to have an OpenID. I can tell you that no new website is going to require me to have an OpenID. Thats kind of the point; its supposed to be optional. Also, there is nothing I'm missing out on because I don't have an OpenID (i.e. its not viral). Facebook is viral. If I don't use Facebook, I'm missing out on life. Case in point: if ALL my friends started using OpenID, my life would not be affected whatsoever. I probably wouldn't even know they were using OpenID because it's not noteworthy enough for them to mention. Which is why you've probably never heard of OpenID.
Comments