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Tributes.com Digital Obituary News
Tributes.com is a new site designed to provide an eternal digital memorial to honor people who have died. It was created by Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor:
“Regardless of which business it is, the consumers have said that their preferred way of getting information is the internet over traditional print,” says Taylor. “For a while, you’ll see obits in both newspapers and on the Web, but my prediction is that eventually they will all be online.”
(Sample obit at Tributes.com)
The idea of having some sort of digital memorial that provides a multi-media cemetary experience is an idea that is on the rise. Consider the augmented reality cemetery tour presented in Atlanta's Oakland cemetery.
(From Augmented Reality cemetery tour)
For another example, take a look at the Vidstone Serenity Panel; it contains a solar-powered LCD display that presents 5-10 minutes of video tribute to the deceased.
(Vidstone Serenity Panel digital headstone)
A Japanese gravestone maker has developed these memorial markers with embedded bar codes in them. Visitors to the grave site can take pictures of the bar code tag with their cell phone cameras, then upload the bar code to a website with details about the deceased. The site also logs how many times the stone is scanned.
(Japanese gravestone with embedded barcode)
SF fans have seen this idea before; they recall the moving holodek ceremony honoring fallen comrade Tasha Yar. See the following video showing a portion of the memorial service from Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Skin of Evil (first broadcast 25-Apr-1988).
(Tasha Yar memorial service video from ST:TNG)
Tributes.com, in acting as a clearinghouse for obituary notices, expects to gain some revenue from advertising, but will also provide the bereaved with an opportunity to present their own tributes for a modest fee.
Update 01/02/2024: Take a look at the lifebox from Rudy Rucker's 1986 story Soft Death. End update.
Read more at Portfolio.com and look at the Tributes.com website; thanks to Moira for the tip on this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/16/2008)
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