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Launch of FinalThoughts.com
Launched in 1999, FinalThoughts.com was the first known digital afterlife service. Its arrival in the marketplace sparked some news attention at the time, but interest waned over time. -
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FinalThoughts.com
FinalThoughts.com is the first known website dedicated to exploring the digital afterlife. While other sites focused on memorials, this site was the first to present the idea planning ahead. The Telegraph reported FinalThoughts.com as "having been read the last rites inThe Telegraph, lasting about four years. -
Wall Street Journal
"Boomers begin to look beyond the good life to the good death" was published. This is the first known mention of the digital afterlife in the media. -
The Guardian compares love on the Internet to death on the Internet
"Bury my heart in cyberspace: In the 90s, the Internet added a new dimension to love and relationships. In this decade, can it do the same thing for dying? asks Noel O'Hare" in The Guardian. -
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph ran "You have final e-mail." The short blurb mentioned MyLastEmail.com, and two former services, FinalThouhgts.com and TimelessMail.com. Article -
Launch of MyLastEmail.com
MyLastEmail is the second known digital afterlife service. Like FinalThoughts.com, it lasted only a few years before disappearing from the Web. -
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MyLastEmail.com
MyLastEmail.com lasted just over four years as indicated by the Wayback Machine. -
Volume of OMEGA--Journal of Death and Dying
The April 2004 edition of OMEGA--Journal of Death and Dying was dedicated to Death and the WWW. This is the first known academic work surrounding the digital afterlife. -
Death and Immortality at SIMTech '08
Three papers were presented at the International Workshop on Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies 2008 (SIMTech '08). This event marked additional academic attention for the digital afterlife. Photo of David Kirk presenting on the desing of technology heirlooms. -
"Who will check my email after I die?" at SXSW Interactive 2009
"Who will check my email after I die?" was presented at SXSW Interactive 2009. This was the first known industry conference presentation on the topic. -
Launch of TheDigitalBeyond.com
The Digital Beyond, a new blog sparked by SXSW 2009, became the first blog entirely dedicated to the digital afterlife. -
Issue of Michigan Bar Journal dedicated to "Digital Legal Authority"
The July 2009 Issue of the Michigan Bar Journal was dedicated to "Digital Legal Authority." This marks the earliest known attention from the legal community. -
Afterlife & Death in a Digital Age seminar
The National University of Singapore hosted the first known event dedicated to the topic, Afterlife & Death in a Digital Age. -
"Death and the Digital" workshop CHI 2010.
CHI 2010, an annual conference on Human Computer Interaction, hosted a workshop called "Death and the Digital." -
Digital Death Day event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA
Digital Death Day was the first professional conference dedicated to this topic. Organized by Kaliya Hamlin, the event was held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. [www.digitaldeathday.com](www.digitaldeathday.com) -
Your Digital Aftelife published.
Your Digital Afterlifeis the first book dedicated to the digital afterlife. -
You're Dead. Your Data Isn't. What Happens Now? presented at SXSW 2011.
You're Dead. Your Data Isn't. What Happens Now? was presented at SXSW 2011. The session drew 150 attendees and presented the views of five early scholars of this topic.
