A few years ago, a company thought they'd hit upon an
ingenious enhancement for modern cemeteries -- namely, a tombstone with an embedded video screen. The idea was that visitors to your grave-site could watch a slideshow of images, all while listening to accompanying audio (accessible via a handy headphone jack) -- like a giant, morbid iPod. You would think an idea as modern and tasteful as this one would have caught on, but apparently after years of work, maker Vidstone LLC is still not seeing the numbers. "I haven't sold any," said Doug Ellis of Riverview Monuments in Wisconsin -- a sentiment not uncommon amongst dealers. Cheri Lucking, Vidstone's national sales director says, "We don't release our sales figures," adding, "It is not a huge number at the moment." We're wondering what our forward thinking, gadget-obsessed Engadget readers think... would you drop the $2,000 for a "Serenity Panel?"
[Thanks, Lenman1]
posted December 10th 2007 7:31PM
Why not... I'd be dead!
You'd think people would be dying to get them...
I'd kill for one of these really
Tasha Yar had one of these after she got killed in that one Star Trek episode.
@Flash
Yep... Remember that one. Can't forget the horny look on Data's face...
i wouldn't be caught dead with one of those things
Since they seem to be going out of business, its a dead issue.
John Carmack should have one of these on his DoombStone.
It's not a tasteless idea; in fact, it has some merit. However, the implementation is just terrible. It looks like someone scotch-taped a panel to a tombstone. I'm sure that in the distant future, there will be some crazy photovoltaic cement doodad that is integrated in the tombstone itself. Perhaps touching the tombstone will activate some kind of display on a seamlessly integrated screen. However, the cumbersome nonsense shown in the pic above is just completely unappealing because it destroys the aesthetics of a tombstone (yes, a tombstone has some asthetic value).
In all honesty, I also agree that this is not a bad idea, but it does cost way too much and looks horrible.
M
I would suggest a holographic display. That would be sure to freak some ghost-believing folks out! LOL!
uh oh me cut hole too big.
Kids, lets all go to the cemetary and watch the iTomb, don't forget to bring your headphones...
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The only way I'd buy a serenity panel is if it actually showed the movie, Serenity.
When I first saw the picture I thought "hmm, that reminds me of the tombstones for Wash and Book", then I saw the name "Serenity Panel" and laughed.
Whoa, hold your horses. That movie is copyrighted, and I'll be damned if the MPAA doesn't try to sue your dead ass!
And if you can't pay up, they repossess your serenity panel or sue the nearest single mother...
Hide your receipts or they'll take your embalming procedure back for being defective in their efforts to get your money.
I love that movie. The wild wild west of space and they had one of those video tombstones.
I'm sorry, I just cant stomach this shit. This is just plain out creepy!
Is there any restriction on what your video can be? I'd have a video of me mooning the camera. Why not get a laugh off my dead ass? Get it?! :)
and with this comes rise to a brand new acronym used SOULLY (ha) for the iStone...
RUGLMFAO
it'll get you mad "pathway cred" among your eternally resting neighbors...
I'll have one of these on my grave over my dead body. Wait...
Listen, no one is putting a computer on my grave unless I can be reanimated so I can come back and browse the internet from beyond!
Internet browsing zombies with a predilection for the grave? You wouldn't have to go to such lengths; you could just visit a Korean internet cafe.
Couldn't someone just steal the display?
Couldn't someone just steal the display?
What the hell? I only pressed submit once! Please delete!
Only if it can play doom!
i think it already IS playing doom.
isn't that the point? :)
Actually, it doesn't look that different from the Colossal MP3 player in your earlier report :)
YES! SWEET! So what would I have on there?
Either...
Live feed from inside my coffin!
or
Porn! Just hardcore, crazy porn!
Awesome.... on both counts. I kinda wanna watch you decay... is there maybe, a widget I can find? Can I stream this to my Voyager? Is there an RSS feed that I can get with De-cay-tails? =)
How's about some hardcore crazy porn live from inside your coffin..
Boosh!
Im having a 42" Weather-Sealed Plasma for my headstone.
I'd purchase one if I knew it would play hardcore porn while I'm in the grave. I'm already dead... might as well piss a few people off.
At least you'll know the grand kids will visit your final resting place often. Not necessarily your grand kids ...
i cant wait to see the first chinese knockoff
Well, I have some questions?
Does this thing come with a lifetime warranty? After all, I am going to be dead a LOT longer than I was alive.
What if it breaks, how do I get it fixed? Who do I have to "call" or "haunt" to get it repaired? Do they have an after life hot line?
Last question. Can I get a PMP built into the display too? I mean if my family has dragged their butts out to seem my dead ass, at least the kids could plug in and have some fun. Install Zaxxon on mine, I hit over 602k on that game back in the day.
- Roger
I'm pretty sure you'll need more than a "lifetime" warranty.
I work for a monument company. I came accross these once, cemeteries are really trying to push it (at very high prices), this device looks like a knockoff made in china, probably worth as much as an ipod knockoff. The monument industry is very conservative, they are always afraid of trying new things, and stick to old ways. These type of devices would probably only work in a mausoleum, since the sun would probably eat up (or where I live, melt it) the plastic device in a new york minute. For grave markers, how about implementing e-ink, a solar panel, and hiding the device under the stone, keeping it simple. We use ceramic photographs in memorials, im sure an e-ink display could be put in instead of the ceramic photo, keeping the same look. Heck, maybe even add bluetooth so family members could upload pics. just my 2 cents.
I really like that idea. The solar powered, embedded, simple display.
Ooo... why not just get one of those digital picture frames and embed that into the tombstone with a solar panel on top (also embedded into the tombstone)? I'd like that idea. Nice, smooth, good looking, scrolling pictures of the deceased for an eternity. (Or until it breaks.)
I also like one of the other posters ideas of it turning on when someone touches it.
this brings to mind the words, "change the channel..."
A new 42 inch 1080p lcd for home or a low res, probably breaks or gets stolen lcd on a loved ones tomb... what do you THINK i'd do :)
Unless it uses solar/wind power, will the batteries last?
You obviously didn't read the article, it is solar powered.
If they're charging two grand ON TOP OF the cost of a tombstone then yeah, no one is going to buy them. Death is expensive enough as it is, most people aren't in the mood to pimp out their grave.
Imagine seeing the BSOD on that thing
Great idea....poorly implemented. If it looked nice and came with the whole tombstone for $2000. I would buy it.
It's a great idea, just not something the baby-boomer generation will be buying for thier parents.
Wait 25 more years, this will be commonplace. (and yes, probably incorporate most of your above ideas)