Video: Pocket Cemetery iPhone App preys on grief, sends prayers to Flash memory

Death is a certainty and as inescapable as the people who will prey on your grief. The new Pocket Cemetery App on iTunes lets you create virtual tombstones for "dead relatives, friends, pets, or celebrities" that you can decorate with bitmapped flower images. You can even use the on-screen QWERTY to tap out and "send" a little prayer. As Wayne Perry describes it, Pocket Cemetery is "like having a little virtual heaven in the palm of your hand." Unfortunately, heaven will cost $2.99 and there won't be any connectivity -- this App runs isolated on your iPhone without any means to share your memorial, prayers, or grieving. But hey, maybe we're alone in our criticism; Pocket Cemetery already has a first "user review" rating it 5 out of 5 stars by a first time reviewer just 1-hour after launch. Impressive.

P.S. Don't just stop at the video above, Wayne's generated a different pitch on his YouTube channel capitalizing on the deaths of Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, and Farrah Fawcett. Elvis too, even though we know he's just in hiding.

[DR House @ Jul 6th 2009 5:23AM]

wtf is this garbage making money out of someone death lame humans

[calgaryalta @ Jul 6th 2009 7:48AM]

apparently you've never heard of private security contractors :)

[Poo_and_Wee @ Jul 6th 2009 8:07AM]

See also: Inheritance tax, Alarms in case you're buried alive, The Egyptians

[John @ Jul 6th 2009 8:08AM]

Hitler is upset about MJ's passing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELyTBXzfQJ8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmacsmind.com%2Fwordpress%2F&feature=player_embedded

[Jordan @ Jul 6th 2009 8:43PM]

this app is so sad in so many ways

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 6th 2009 11:45PM]

I agree, this guy is a total moron.

[bigkah624 @ Jul 6th 2009 5:26AM]

What use is it if only you have access to this memorial? This only makes sense if you can share it with other people.

[Wwhat @ Jul 6th 2009 9:35AM]

Yeah it's obviously even easier to milk the dumb by getting them to compete, who gave the most expensive biggest flowers? The sky's the limit.

[BratPAQ @ Jul 6th 2009 5:26AM]

this blog will turn from Cemetery Apps to Michael Jackson hating/loving thread in 3...2...1...

[DanielT @ Jul 6th 2009 8:05AM]

I can't decide between fruity pebbles or cinnamon toast crunch on this beautiful Monday morning.

[tommyny04 @ Jul 6th 2009 8:35AM]

come on ... it s a no brainer, always always go for the cinnamon toast crunch

[Jorvay @ Jul 6th 2009 9:47AM]

Mix them! It'll take your breakfast to a whole new level. Can you handle it?

[Jorvay @ Jul 6th 2009 9:48AM]

Oh, and make sure you use chocolate milk too.

[be fearless @ Jul 6th 2009 5:26AM]

anybody going to the jackson memorial in staples center?

[Andir3.0 @ Jul 6th 2009 8:15AM]

Farrah Fawcet reaches the gates of heaven and God tells her she can have one wish in the world. She says she wishes all the children of the world can be safe, so God takes Micheal Jackson.

Honestly though, all this news and hoopla over MJ is stupid. He was a messed up person who's better off dead. His family, his life and his career were evidence enough.

[Puggs @ Jul 6th 2009 11:18AM]

ok, so my coffee came out of my nose when I read that joke!

[ddub @ Jul 6th 2009 5:28AM]

F'ing Tacky and low class as hell.

[barry99705 @ Jul 6th 2009 7:08AM]

I've been saying that about fox, cnn, (insert news company here) for about a day after MJ's death. The dude died, it's life, say your prayer or whatever and move on! What pisses me off about all this shit is we have weeks of OMGMJ died, and a 2 minute blurb about one of our servicemen captured by the Taliban.

[OneLove @ Jul 6th 2009 9:39AM]

Yep, that's why I hate the american news. Just a bunch of low rent whores. (can i please have another tour of MJ's empty house cnn?)

- BBC FTW!

[Wwhat @ Jul 6th 2009 9:41AM]

Comparing it to the news networks is a good choice, it's basically the same damn thing, not just with celebrities either, they even make ads for themselves where they show people dying in all kinds of conflicts, brutally murdered or giving their life for a cause and then reduced to being an 'extra' in a 25 seconds ad for bbcworld/cnn/fox/nbc/abc what have you. Yay, bloody yay.

[Wwhat @ Jul 6th 2009 9:47AM]

BBC is no different, and their tabloid newspapers are even worse than the worse US stuff.
Oh and they also have the commercial british channels with news.

In reality BBC is nasty now in that they push a doctrine and twist stuff to their end and hide stuff that hinders the view they are pushing, and unlike foxnews the BBC pretends they aren't doing that but are on some higher moral platform, so foxnewsfor instance is more respectable in the end than present day BBC.

[OneLove @ Jul 6th 2009 10:21AM]

"foxnewsfor instance is more respectable in the end than present day BBC.' - Wait, Wwhat??

[ddub @ Jul 6th 2009 1:58PM]

It makes no difference if it's Farah, Michael, Travolta's son, or my some noncelebrity's daughter that got tragically hit by a stray bullet. There's no need to needlessly try and profit of of someone's death.

as for the news yes they are all pretty poor. sensationalizing without proof an all types of stories. And i'd agree the BBC is no better then American newspapers and worse in many ways. i've seen numerous articles on the bbc website that level accusations but don't even have an author listed or quotes from the person they are accusing. And most of the english tabloids are worse. But you can't write some of those things in most american papers, unsourced articles that with no quotes. You'll get sued for libel and won't risk it.

[Wwhat @ Jul 6th 2009 9:40PM]

I know OneLove, it's astounding, but it's there staring us in the face.

[dsteve303 @ Jul 6th 2009 5:28AM]

ive always wanted to make money off the grief, tears, and sorrows of dead peoples family and friends.

[cmil1212 @ Jul 6th 2009 5:28AM]

Because dead people have iphones too..

[y3k.nik @ Jul 6th 2009 7:21AM]

that can apparently receive flowers

[CL @ Jul 6th 2009 5:29AM]

50,000 apps in the app store, 1/2 of them are garbage.

[darrenisafanboi @ Jul 6th 2009 6:05AM]

only half?

[Adderz @ Jul 6th 2009 6:08AM]

1 trillion Windows Mobile apps, 99% of them are garbage. I have had to scour the internet, 100s of threads on XDA and shady developer websites looking for good apps for my Touch Cruise.

I honestly cant believe Apple were the first successful (successful being the keyword) company to introduce a marketplace for mobile apps.

Of course there were places like Handango but by and large, they suck, and arent a CENTRAL place for Apps.

[Erb @ Jul 6th 2009 6:18AM]

@Adderz
1,000,000,000,000 * 0.01 = 10,000,000,000

10,000,000,000 > 25,000

Something seems wrong there.

[giuliop @ Jul 6th 2009 7:07AM]

Fact is that he's good at addingz, but not at multiplyingz.

[John Bailey @ Jul 6th 2009 7:29AM]

But don't Apple carefully vet each and every iPhone app before releasing it to the faithful? Making sure it isn;t obscene/offensive/likely to lead it's purchaser to a lice of crime and debauchery?

How can shake the baby be bad but this is considered ok?

Got to say though.. Tacky, parasitic, opportunist creepy and downright morbid. Carrying around a photo of a dead loved one/celebrity I can see. Listening to music that reminds you of them, fine. But putting a memorial on a phone for your own private use?? Come on. This is the app that should get the down-loaders flagged for some kind of at risk register.

[Wwhat @ Jul 6th 2009 9:50AM]

Luckily AT&T has every person in the world flagged, and monitored.

[fischju @ Jul 6th 2009 5:34AM]

So will this be pulled or not? If you think it WILL be pulled, vote this up - if you think it won't be, vote this down

[Mabedan @ Jul 6th 2009 5:37AM]

"and the prayer has been sent"
how stupid can one be???????????????

[rheza @ Jul 6th 2009 5:39AM]

Thats a iPhone ..

[barry99705 @ Jul 6th 2009 7:09AM]

A before a consonant, an before a vowel.

[CowEmbryo @ Jul 6th 2009 5:41AM]

Cut your nails you lowlife.

[Hitman @ Jul 6th 2009 5:50AM]

I just killed 3 Million of my brain cells watching this. This is INSANE!
How low are we going to make money out of someone's death!?!

Even a man/woman who has no limbs can pay homage to his/her loved ones without going to a cemetery. Using this app will make them feel dumb...

Shame on you Mr.PocketCemetery developer!

[darrenisafanboi @ Jul 6th 2009 5:53AM]

what a freaking parasite

[gsmd @ Jul 6th 2009 6:00AM]

Apple absolutely should feature this app for their next tv ad.

[Boards of Canada @ Jul 6th 2009 6:21AM]

I could do a very bad joke about Steve Job but I will restrain myself. That application is total crap.

[bsd @ Jul 6th 2009 6:26AM]

MJ was not born on August 29. He changed his birth date because he didn't want to be a Scorpio.
His actual birth date is in Oct of '58.

Michael surely didn't want to be Michael.

[DR House @ Jul 6th 2009 6:34AM]

That's why he changed his name to mikaeel or whatever it was and become a Muslim

[Maxwell Ash @ Jul 6th 2009 7:06AM]

Thats why he faked his death and ran off to Mexico

[Wwhat @ Jul 6th 2009 9:52AM]

Haha, mexico, the low cost alternative to brazil.

[Wwhat @ Jul 6th 2009 9:56AM]

Meanwhile michael jackson is still on the floor of his studio with a broken ankle saying 'Why did they take that latex replica of me from the lobby and did they shock it with paddles, and when will I get some assistance?'

[Stratos @ Jul 6th 2009 6:48AM]

Thats really low class Engadget... you just couldnt make a remark from you about his death you had to put someones rip-OFF APP regarding his death. So many serious sites (not music related !!!) put tribute remark in form of small banner or something and you put this lame news.
Kinda disguasting.

[Orinjz @ Jul 6th 2009 7:37AM]

This is a tech blog; if events regarding Michael Jackson's death pertain to technology, Engadget will report on it, otherwise its just more meaningless fluff added to the collective navel which the entire connected world will spend an eternity wanking themselves into a frenzy over.

As for the rest of the moral feather spitting going on about this golden nugget on the app store, if you don't like it, don't buy it. The only *actual* problem here seems to be that the creator is asking for payment, but the actual concept, though tacky in its execution, is no more a show of disrespect to the dead than any other medium of rememberance.