Hey boys:) Sorry I didnt respond sooner... I didn't use the 'Additional Options' link to 'Notify me of replies'. (Suggestion: maybe that 'Additional Options' link should be open from the gitgo, so you can see options... and might as well check 'notify' by default just to make sure no one assumed it was on/didnt know that option existed.)
Anyway, from what I remember, whoever started janrain was also deeply tied into this 'movement'. And from what I could gather, was trying to capitalize on it financially very early. I remember there was a little push-back, and they deleted his company's name in the Wiki article on them ...that kind of thing. But back when people first started really talking about OpenID, janrain was not only issuing them themselves, but also selling the ability for OTHER companies to issue them, using their own domains. That's pretty serious crap.
And you also have to remember, the people that came up with these standards, etc. are not your typical average gaggle of geeks. In fact, if you found a geek that was soo geeky that he thought of himself as normal... even that guy would call those guys geeks:) So this company was a rare breed in that it was trying to make the technology consumer friendly (~55% functional/45% pretty.) That's why it is nice to see they evolved and are now providing these SMB solutions.
...but, again, to me, this is just a huge opportunity for site owners. This is what we have been waiting for. Done right, in certain circumstances/industries, targeting certain audiences, this could add 20% easy to your immediate bottom-line... not to mention the viral component.
