We'll meet you at the cemetry gates
Now this strikes us as kind of morose and tacky, but
Robert Barrows filed a patent application for a tombstone with built-in touch screen so the dead person can leave a
video message for posterity. But do we really want our gravestones to be multimedia entertainment centers? Of course!
(What? Fine, just kidding.) At least we'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt that these things are going to be
solar powered with solid state electronics—we'd really hate to think of a hard drive crashing during a funeral
ceremony, when someone is announcing the punchline to their life. But we'd really love to see what kind of stuff they
would install on historic tombstones.
[Via TechDirt]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Billy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM
Crashes would give a new meaning to the "Blue Screen Of Death"
Sincox @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM
This guy isn't even making it a solar powered solution. In the article I read, he says it will run off of the cemetaries light system, not solar powered like you might think. Also he said they will be using a hard drive, but possible will go solid state. It will be a touch screen and from what I understand, the message will be pretty customizable, with pictures and video and stuff. How long do you think it would actually last in a cemetary after some punk kids start kicking it. All in all, a good thought, but a bad idea.
cornflux @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM
Actually, here's an interesting possibility (unless it's mentioned in an article I haven't read)... think about adding some kind of Biometric Identification to the system. Then you could leave custom messages for specific people that visit your grave site.
Mr. What? @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM
Do you think they can put AIM on these things? Maybe we can talk to the dead...
Michael @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM
His idea isn't all that novel. Back in 1997 I was quoted in USA Today as having that idea back in 1979 - just it wasn't a hard drive, it was one of those bigger-than-your-table VCRs which were around then. Seems his idea is mostly a stolen one.