Widely cheered in the blogosphere, Science magazine asked if we as scientists “are ready to be become a number”.
So, in general, I think there’s plenty of agreement that this sort of author ID system is past due. It can do everything from ease the process of manuscript submission to help researchers mine the existing volume of scientific data.
Sure, a unique DOI like ID would help administrators to get their work done, although I think this questions doesn’t arise. I am quite aware who is who. And I am not a number although some websites are already trying to make money in this business.