Trying to keep track of lots of different logins and passwords is a real hassle. As a web developer, I have been well aware of the modern annoyance known as “password fatigue” for a long time. But it was only recently that I discovered what a widespread problem this actually is.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a relative of mine who is an Air Force chief flight engineer. While talking, we began to discuss what our usual workdays consisted of. Surprisingly, he informed me that, as a chief flight engineer, he normally spent five to six hours every day retrieving information or inputting data on a computer.
It was even more surprising to both of us when we realized that, even though we have very different occupations, we both spend five or six hours per day staring at a computer screen, and we both experience password fatigue because of the many different logins and passwords we must keep track of in order to conduct our daily business.
This anecdote just goes to prove that more and more, nearly everyone is dealing with the same types of technology related annoyances — not just web developers such as myself or other computer “geeks.”
But Yahoo.com believes they have found a way to improve the lives of people who spend a great deal of their time online: a standardized web-wide identity.
Wired news is reporting that Yahoo will be introducing a new ID service that takes advantage of the so-called OpenID protocol, which can provide a single login for hundreds — or perhaps thousands — of different web sites. And while it may be premature to suggest that the Yahoo web-wide ID will ensure that we never have to create another login name or password, it is certainly a huge step in the right direction.
Although the OpenID concept has been around for some time, to date only a few of the big players in the industry have supported it. But Yahoo is now negotiating with the likes of AOL and other huge industry players to accept a single ID for all web sites.
Hopefully, the days of trying to remember a dozen or more separate logins and passwords will soon be a thing of the past. The Yahoo open protocol began to be implemented on January the 30th, though experts predict it may still be several years before the majority of sites online accept the web-wide ID concept.
Let’s hope that the new OpenID protocol spreads like wildfire, and puts an end to password fatigue once and for all.
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