Re: [Endymail] Another view of the problem and what the IETF could do

[Leo Vegoda <[e-mail]>]

On Thu, Sep 04, 2014 at 01:18:56PM +0000, Michael Kjörling wrote:

[...]

> > For in person trust anchor exchange, QR codes are the way to go.
> 
> Only if you're willing to basically limit "whatever we end up
> discussing" to people who have the ability to process a random
> encountered QR code in the field. While smartphones and ubiquitous
> networking is common in many Western countries, designing a protocol
> around only that seems rather excluding. Just to mention one example,
> I myself would have no way to process that QR code, and found myself
> in a discussion on a non-technical mailing list the other day where
> several people commented about either not having cell phones at all,
> or having only old "dumb phone" style phones.
> 
> Do we want to exclude those people from establishing that trust
> anchor?

Is it sensible to design a technology based around currently
deployed capabilities or oshould the design assumptions extend to
those capabilities that are likely to exist at the conclusion of the
work or shortly afterwards?

I know there are reasons that people might not want to use
cameraphones in some industries, and that might well limit the
utility of QR codes. However, it seems reasonable to anticipate
cameraphone technology reducing in price and becoming more
widespread in the next five years.