The people who thought this up are guilty of thinking too small.

What we REALLY NEED is a Web-based memorial gravestone (Web 2.0 for now, updates to come later). 

Call it a WebStone.

The WebStone would consist of a dedicated computer, loaded with information about -- and by -- the deceased. 

This is where Larry Medina is so right (as usual):  just like the Egyptian pharaohs, each person could build up, before they die, a knowledge base (KB) about themselves. 

The KB could include still and moving images from childhood to senility, audio recordings, pithy sayings, adoring tributes from family and friends, a RAP sheet (well, maybe not for everyone), a lifetime of email messages, FaceBook postings, tweets, & etc.

The WebStone would tie into the living Web, so consumers wouldn't even have to go on-site, but could also transmit a Wi-Fi signal.

The minor technical issue of power could resolved by installing an array of tastefully-decorated solar panels over the gravesite, or perhaps the cemetery could be paid to supply power during off-peak usage hours.

This raises the first REAL issue:  how to pay for this -- in perpetuity? 

Here's an opportunity for the insurance industry to develop a new product:  the Perpetual Memorial Trust Fund. 

After all, we wouldn't want to see news headlines such as "Abraham Lincoln's WebStone Disconnected and All Data Lost:  Unpaid Bills, Say Power Company and ISP" or "Elvis Presley WebStone Hacked: Attacker Places Own Face on Every Page". 

But, dear friends, there's an even greater professional opportunity:  someone will have to MANAGE this lifetime of information. 

We, the archivists and records managers of the world, have a duty to stand up and be counted! 

We must form a new professional association, following AIIM, AHIMA, ARMA and NIRMA. This will be called Death Information Management (DIM). 

Perpetual employment and small business come together ....

With gallows humour for all,
And malice towards none.

CommuterRailroadWhimsey.