OpenID about to be mainstream

[Trizik]

This is turning out to be quite a good week for OpenID, an increasingly popular mechanism for creating and managing a single identity across the Internet. On Monday, Microsoft announced that it would give every Windows Live user an OpenID account, and today, Google announced a very similar plan.

Google will allow web services to join a limited test of an API based on the OpenID 2.0 protocol that will give Google Account users the option to sign in to websites with their Google credentials and without having to sign up for a new account at those sites.

it's the internet's sliced bread

in a year we'll probably be wondering how we ever navigated the internet without it

"back in my day, i had to create a separate account at every single web site and service!"

watch the 24 minute "OpenID under the hood" discussion with Eric Sachs of Google, David Recordon, Joseph Smarr, and John McCrea:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/redgee/v ... /1417.884/

[joe]

i signed up for openID when i first heard about it but it was a giant pain in the ass and i never used it.

i hope google improves it because as it is now, it's more of a hassle than just maintaining a username/password for each site

[Trizik]

now that the big boys are in on it, it's just a matter of time before it trickles down everywhere else. they say Myspace is soon to be next.

what this means is that anyone with a Google account automatically has an OpenID account, and therefore can use their Google account to login to [and at their discretion share information with] any site that supports OpenID. and who doesn't have a Google account? it's like a global ID that everyone already has. no more e-mail verifications and site-specific username/password combos.

in a year's time OpenID went from being made up by a cluster of no-name sites to being adopted (and further developed) by some of the biggest names known; Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL, just to name a few. OpenID just keeps getting more streamlined and companies like Google are speeding up that process at an incredible rate. the mainstream user experiences more convenience as OpenID's footprint disappears and that's exactly what's happening right now. global ID technology has been tried many times in the past but nothing has been embraced like this. OpenID is taking off!

[joe]

the problem is that when i go to site A, i want to login immediately in 1 step. i don't want to have to click a link to site B, login there, then go back to site A.

[Trizik]

the login process is already more simplified than it used to be. the first time you login to a new OpenID-supported site, you are redirected to an OpenID provider such as Google, but once your OpenID is registered at that site, future visits are only a matter of clicking the "Sign in with Google" link and then bam, you're instantly signed in without being redirected.

Plaxo is a good example of the process in action

i do agree with what you're saying though. it's still not perfectly simple. but as they mentioned in the interview, making the login process as invisible as possible to the mainstream end-user is their ultimate goal, and Google is clearly pushing that direction.

i imagine that browser support (similar to SSL and anti-phishing verification features) would be a solution, but i guess sticking to cross-platform web technologies is priority #1.

[KoD]

If it was a simple firefox plugin, I'd love to use this.

does OUR site support this OpenID thing?

[breakerfall]

I would be very surprised if there isn't a plugin to enable OpenID on PHPBB forums, but j2 doesn't currently have support for it.

I still don't bother with it, even after all this time. It doesn't sit well with me, but I can't quite explain why. Maybe it's the security concerns? One account for all means that if your account is exploited, then someone will have access to every portal, site or web app that you use, that utilises OpenID. /shrugs

[renesis]

Tell me about it, it's bad enough when one account is hijacked, how about them all. ...ugh!

[sys]

i don't know if this is good or bad

i mean it's like one step from all the corporations owning your soul like in all those sci fi movies and books

[Rat-morningstar]

ah,come on, give me one disadvantage of ultramegacorp owning your puny mortal soul

[Trizik]

anyone can be an OpenID provider, even you

[molf]

I wish Google would fuck off.

But that's similar to wishing Walmart would fuck off.

[Nightmare]

what did walmart ever do to you?

[molf]

what did walmart ever do to you?

It has been one of the catalysts for the rotting of my country and human civilization in general. A catalyst who's coming into existence, acceptance, success and long life is and was practically inevitable, but still a catalyst I wish would fuck off.

[Nightmare]

corporations like wal mart are the reason that americans can live like they do today