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Showing posts from November, 2020

The dubiousness of digitized signature services

Notice I referred to "digitized" instead of digital, this is a very important distinction. These services essentially offer ways to transport handwritten scribbles into digital processes. They can be anything from attaching a Microsoft paint scribble or a scan of one written on a piece of paper, to custom font generation that makes  your signature look like you are a former president of the united states. I wont mention any such services by name but if you've purchased a house or engaged in any sort of contract paperwork activity (leases..etc) you have likely encountered these services. Last I checked, one of these companies is worth north of $40B, no doubt reflecting the size of the market for such services. First, what is the purpose of any signature? as the name suggests, it is primarily to ascribe provenance to something, be it an abstract thing such as a legal agreement expressed in writing or a physical object such as a painting. We also use the notion of signature