Why Hasn’t OpenID Caught On?

Last week, I wanted to make a comment on Silicon Valley Insider, and one of the options was OpenID.

Intrigued, I decided to explore OpenID even though it had been something I had dismissed several times in the past. After all, if you’re using a password tool such as RoboForm or 1Password, why use OpenID? Still, it was something I wanted to get a better handle on. (Given my recent embrace of Twitter, maybe 2008 is a year of trial…and error!)

In theory, OpenID makes a lot of sense because it provides a universal login and authentication system at a time when managing your passwords on a growing number of online services becomes increasingly difficult. Once you get an OpenID, logging in to anything becomes a snap.

For whatever reason, OpenID has failed to resonate with many people. It seems to be one of those great ideas that sounds good but never catches on – a lot like BlueTooth. OpenID’s problems range from the challenges finding an identity provider to a dearth of marketing, a lack of places to actually use it, and, frankly, the fact it’s far from user-friendly. ReadWriteWeb has a terrific summary of the troubles facing Open ID

Yet, the OpenID supporters continue to carry on. SpreadopenID.org, for example, recently launched as a way to educate people about OpenID’s benefits, and helping provide an easy way to find an OpenID provider. And OpenID’s prospects got a huge boost a couple of months ago when Google said the new version of Blogger will support OpenID-based commenting, while Flickr will apparently use OpenID as a log in tool.

OpenID is one of those technologies you’d like to embrace because it seems to make a lot of sense. I could be wrong but my feeling is OpenID could become an Edsel given there seems to be little, if any, enthusiasm for it. Unless Google, for example, decides it’s the way to provide seamless access to its growing service portfolio, OpenID’s prospects look pretty dim.

More: Devon Young has a post that illustrates one of the problem with OpenID, listing the sites he can use OpenID on and those that he’d like to use it on but can’t yet. The Identity Corner said OpenID’s problems were seven-fold: trust, security, privacy, usability, adoption, availability and patents.

Update: Google and Facebook have joined Dataportability.org. According to ReadWriteWeb, Google’s representative is Brad Fitzpatrick, who invented LiveJournal and is one of the key people behind OpenID.

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