Online immortality

Life caching has just extended itself to eternity, overriding electronic space issues, hard drive failures and other technical glitches. For a one-time fee of USD 300/EUR 250, Eternity4all allows users to build a personal space using ten photographs, three one-minute movies and three texts, with the option to update as and when desired. Once a user makes his or her personal space public, it’s published and saved on the company’s system for eternity. Founded in March 2006 by Bert van Dam, Eternity4all aims to immortalize a user’s uniqueness for the world, for his descendants and for himself. As Dam puts it, “The most beautiful aspect of Eternity4all is the process of telling your personal story and the awareness created while doing so.” Ten pictures and three movies may seem too little for the average consumer to spend USD 300 on, but the whole idea behind this venture seems to extend beyond chronicling personal lives. Eternity4all will work as a time-capsule of sorts, encouraging consumers to choose what they would like to preserve for eternity. Considering how closely personal stories are tied to one’s mother tongue and/or culture, local versions of this concept should work well. For a number of industries, partnering with Eternity4all could also tie in nicely with existing offerings; how about insurance companies offering customers a free slice of online immortality with every new life insurance policy?