The username is a relic. Here is how to fix it

This guy can't tell the difference between a username and a displayed name. He's not qualified to give advice. Username is indeed just a string for machines which happens to be displayed occasionally.

So, Facebook has it figured out because it uses displayed names? If only I didn't have to log in using my email, which suffers the same problems of usernames.

Usernames are still better than the Orwellian Google "All your personal information are belong to us" real name policies.

"The solution—and the key to Facebook’s success—is surprisingly simple: Identity online should take a cue from the physical world. You are more than your name; your face, your birthday, your location, and the company you keep all help others figure out who you are."

So, I guess the "solution" is an end to anonymity? The cure seems worse than the disease, in my opinion.

I was amused to see this at the bottom: "Commenting has been disabled for this article".

Either Wired decided they didn't want to deal with opposing viewpoints, or they couldn't get this wonderful proposed solution in place in time.