[OpenID] What makes OpenID special?

[SitG Admin]

I'd like the community to map out its understanding of OpenID: why 
are we *here*, instead of (or in spite of!) being involved in other 
projects; what quality/qualities does OpenID have that drew us to it?

My understanding has changed over time, and my reasons with it; I 
still support the idea (I think Peter Williams stopped a while ago), 
but I'm valuing it more and more for how it could bridge users' 
understanding to a future identity protocol in several years' time, 
less and less for what it does *now* with identity. I primarily 
appreciate its technical aspect of backward-compatibility, 
functioning for users with nothing more than the Redirect that is 
built into their browsers; if OpenID began to require more than that, 
it would have to compete with existing applications (which may have a 
browser plugin but fully enjoy the advantages of being able to run 
arbitrary code on the user's platform) at a handicap.

-Shade