eBay passes on Passport
eBay's decision to stop using Microsoft's Passport service has prompted a raft of stories focusing on the current state of the Redmond company's user authentication and identity system. See coverage by the Associated Press, Reuters, and the Los Angeles Times.
Although the original idea behind Passport was to create something akin to a universal login for many types of sites, the focus has been narrowed more to Microsoft's own sites and to those of its partners. But the company says that shift isn't anything new, and it still plans to pitch the service for use by non-Microsoft sites in situations where it makes sense. Adam Sohn, an MSN director, described the situation this morning as "an evolution of our thinking over the past couple years."
Posted by Todd Bishop at December 30, 2004 02:29 PM
E-Bay, Amazon, Yahoo and Google are the new Big 4 of the Internet Economy. Microsoft is extra baggage that is dragging down their ability to do e-commerce with the consumer. I forsee increased cutting of the umbilical cord to the point where the Big 4 will push strongly for Linux on the desktop, to guarantee the consumer a safer and more secure shopping experience.
