On last week’s Hungry Beast, they take a look at what happens to your virtual life when you die. Considering the US have been celebrating Memory [Forever] for the past week, it’s worth taking a couple of minutes to check out what’s going to happen to all your online accounts when you kick the bucket.
Memory is a fickle thing. As far as my brain is concerned, I didn’t exist before age three. Remembering four or five is easier, but there are holes. Thankfully, all it takes are some voyeuristic navigation tools to fill them.
You’re looking at a woman who resembles your mother. She moves and talks like your mother, and she’s even dressed the same as your mother. In fact, she is your mother. But you’re absolutely certain that she’s an imposter.
Imagine a format that lies somewhere between photos and video, and a device that takes that format automatically, without you having to click a button. Microsoft’s SenseCam is a prototype that hangs around your neck, lifecasting everything you see.
All this talk about preserving digital legacies got me thinking: What about the bits we don’t want to leave behind? Y’know, the risqué material? Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.
Just a few years ago there were no virtual social networks, no synchronised address books and no smartphones. But people had social networks and phones, and they had to memorise and organise thousands of contacts. Or have a Rolodex.
