I felt the need to discuss “CAPTCHA” (That annoying test used in to ensure that a response is not generated by a computer, anti-spam filter)

I understand the concept & the purpose it serves (I’ll be it a good/valid/important purpose)

That being said; is it just me…or has this become a serious pain-in-the-ass?

Where is the line drawn between anti-spam precautions & downright ridiculousness…My thoughts:











I Will be the 1st to admit that I am not completely familiar with the algorithms used by these spam bots. But are these sort of precautions entirely necessary? Can a line of code honestly differentiate between this orgy of alphanumerics?

My Concern:

Is this becoming a conversion issue? Are people potentially so turned off by this nonsense that they are dissuaded away from signing up to a particular forum/site? I think is becoming an issue...Just my opinion, what do you think?