The Revolution Stops Here
What’s left for the digital revolution to conquer now that it can reach beyond the grave? MyOwnEulogy.com has announced a service that takes the work out of remembering someone by foisting the work back on the individual. Think of it as an opportunity to write your autobiography complete with music and video “depending on the creativity of the author” as the press release says.
For only $19.99 per year what could go wrong?
Let me enumerate just a few ideas I have.
For those of us not blessed with the verbosity of a Churchill (or even his grammar and punctuation) dealing with the challenge of the blank screen might be just a tad much especially when contemplating with the long good night.
The PR makes the point, quite rightly, that loved ones should not be faced with the task of creating a eulogy in the middle of grieving and all would be better if somehow magically the task could be done already at the time of the funeral. So, it really doesn’t solve the problem, it merely transfers it to another person, place and time. I suggest this may be an opening for freelancers but not autobiographers.
Truth be told, most people are no good at narrative or editing — even of their own life stories — and I can see this new service accumulating piles of electronic files, scraps and pieces of a story left for others to knit together. But also, what is the value add of a service like this? Don’t we already have access to all of the capabilities needed to create a personalized eulogy? Aren’t they already available more or less free?
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