No Clue on Technology

May 23, 2008 in OpenID by Carsten Pötter | 6 comments

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while now knows that one of the main topics here is OpenID. Actually it has become a focal point of the blog. I got interested in identity management and OpenID when doing a vanity search on Google almost two years ago. Realizing that there was more than one Carsten Pötter listed in search engine results and that I don’t want to be associated with at least some of them - you don’t want to see your name on an anti-Semitic site, do you? - I tried to aggregate online profiles in one place, building a brand. Also blogging certainly helped being listed more prominently in search results later. One of the first tools I used for aggregation was ClaimID and from there it’s just a small step to OpenID. I was hooked.

OpenID was emerging back then. It was and still is interesting to watch developments being made, see it grow, and gain momentum. I think I have learned a few things about the technology, though I am not a developer. I can’t code and while I am subscribed to the OpenID mailing list, some discussions there are over my head. I don’t have the background to follow them and simply don’t have enough time to gain some deeper knowledge. The only contribution to OpenID I can offer is an end user perspective, blogging and talking about it.

However some people have the false impression I was some kind of expert. That happened more than once already. I am certainly no expert. I am not even sure if everything I write about OpenID is technically correct. But I think information (especially) on new technologies has to be correct. How can people be convinced to adopt a technology if they can’t be sure the information given to them is correct? I can’t offer this guarantee.

So does it still make sense to write about OpenID (the same applies for other technologies like microformats as well)? Currently I am undecided. Today I have seen a post on Mashable associating FriendFeed with the semantic web. It’s nonsense, of course. But am I immune to such articles? I guess, not.

Maybe this is the most stupid article ever written on a blog but I will probably maintain a low profile on OpenID for a couple of weeks. In two weeks there will be a barcamp on identity in Bremen. I registered for it already but I won’t go, I guess. It doesn’t make much sense.

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  1. Frank Westphal’s avatar

    Frank Westphal on May 23, 2008 at 19:24

    Can’t talk for you, Carsten, and I won’t talk you out or back into your idea, but for me writing is all about learning. I often literally don’t know what I think before I hear what I say.

    PS - even top tech bloggers like the Techcrunchies and ReadWriteWebs aren’t always spot-on with their analysis, especially in the technical arena, e.g. Twitter architecture challenge

    Keep on keeping on!

  3. marcel weiss’s avatar

    marcel weiss on May 23, 2008 at 21:38

    Carsten, you may not have studied something in that direction (dunno about your background) but you certainly know a good deal about OpenID and such stuff.
    You know you accumulate quite a lot of knowledge by constantly reading articles on one topic, don’t you?
    I mean, come on, you may not know everything but you certainly know more about OpenID than most people out there, even the ones writing about it as well.
    And like Frank said “writing is all about learning.”. we’re all there we are now because of constant writing. :)

  4. David Recordon’s avatar

    David Recordon on May 24, 2008 at 04:17

    Hey Carsten I’d be pretty disappointed if you stopped blogging about OpenID! I definitely read your posts and enjoy your perspective. Posts like your Beginners Guide (http://www.notsorelevant.com/2007-09-02/a-beginners-guide-to-openid/) are invaluable resources on the web when people are looking for information about OpenID. It is rare that technologists take the time to write long guides for beginners. Then talking about making OpenID friendly (http://www.notsorelevant.com/2008-02-02/user-friendly-openid-implementation/) is a great overview of the things Yahoo! did to make their Provider easier to use and recognize on RPs while also balancing some of the potential pitfalls.

    I’m thinking about coming over to Identity Camp in Bremen and hope to meet you there!

  5. Carsten Pötter’s avatar

    Carsten Pötter on May 24, 2008 at 06:52

    Thanks to everyone for all the kind words. Yes, I learn new things by writing about them (usually I do some basic research before, ha, ha) but I am not convinced that is enough.

    This year is probably crucial for OpenID. It will either lead to mass adoption (= one of the big guys accepts it at all properties) or it will fail in the long run. If it will lead to mass adoption people will need more information about it (usability and other, usually non-technical stuff). I can contribute to that. But until then OpenID is technology driven and that’s where I lack knowledge.

  6. markus’s avatar

    markus on May 24, 2008 at 19:16

    just adding to the comments above: while the technological issues (writing specs, implementing them, assessing security issues…) are important, to me it seems far more important to ask the right questions, to develop best practices, usage patterns and the like.

    while at times you’ve been at the cheergroup side of things nsr definitely is the best place to kick of discussions and to come up with an informed opinion about openid in germany.