We’re screwed
But you made actual clear points, so it didn't really feel like it, but honestly I can't be sure anymore!
The name "Decentralized Identifiers" tells you everything you need to know. It's just blockchain. DID backends include ION/Sidetree, Indy, and Ethr using BitCoin, Hyperledger, and Ethereum respectively.
I guess my experience is similar to what you're saying though: we didn't really need that crypto layer to immediately gain value. But the way it compressed ids into a single namespace, that was useful.
One of the benefits of a DID-like is that it can be parsed. Lots of folks have probably seen the DOI, a pointer to a specific publication. Here are two that folks might not know:
• The ORCID (https://info.orcid.org/researchers/), a unique ID for researchers, and a place for researchers to provide information about themselves, their affiliated institutions, and their publications.
• The RRID (https://rrid.site), a unique ID for research materials & tools. You can identify a specific antibody, or a specific DNA sequencer, or a particular HPC platform.
These are all centralized repositories of things (researchers, plasmids, instruments, …), all with the purpose of making it easier to identify, find, and connect things.
