[jtheory]

This doesn't make sense -- why should the random person suffer at all? Your personal utility would be equally well-served by a browser plugin that made your password fields visible.

It's not technically difficult, so if it doesn't exist, it wouldn't take much to create.

[omonra]

My personal utility would not be equally well-served - because it would involve finding & installing said plugin.

Meanwhile that random person who can't be bothered to click on the 'mask password' checkbox is just someone I don't really care about. His 'suffering' is entirely avoidable.

On a more serious note - I believe the number of individuals who benefit from this change (everybody typing in a password) would receive sufficient benefit to outweigh the cost incurred by the few who would bear the burden (someone giving demonstration and forgetting to click 'mask pw' button).

Or - we might just have a browser setting for it.