Almost without realizing it, we have shifted toward an all-digital culture. Future heirlooms like family photos, home movies, and personal letters now exist only in digital form, and in many cases they are stored using popular services like Flickr, YouTube, and Gmail. These digital possessions form a rich collection that chronicles our lives and connects us to each other.
But have you considered what will happen to your treasured digital possessions when you die?
Unfortunately the answer isn’t as certain as we might presume. There are numerous legal, cultural, and technical issues that could prevent access to these assets, and if you don’t take steps to make them available to your heirs, your digital legacy could be lost forever.
Written by the creators of TheDigitalBeyond.com, this book helps you secure your valuable digital assets for your loved ones and perhaps posterity. Whether you’re the casual email user or the hyper-connected digital dweller, you’ll come away with peace of mind knowing that your digital heirlooms won’t be lost in the shuffle.
Review
To be ahead of one’s time usually means stepping to the side of one’s time in order to see it clearly. This book does just that, putting our digital lives and afterlives into sharp focus. Fascinating.
–David Eagleman, neuroscientist and author
Death is the final frontier of cyberspace–and this book provides a road map to the key issues, problems and future prospects for bridging this ultimate transition with dignity, security and grace.
–Daniel “Dazza” Greenwood, eCitizen Foundation
Carroll and Romano explain the challenges of the digital afterlife, and provide workable strategies for safeguarding your digital assets. This book is the perfect first step toward securing your digital legacy.
–Fred Stutzman, ClaimID.com
Your Digital Afterlife is the first book to take on the looming topic of dealing with death and online identity. It’s a must-read in the digital era!
–Jeremy Toeman, CEO and founder, Legacy Locker
About the Author
Since 2008, John Romano and Evan Carroll have researched and wrote about the budding digital afterlife community. They first presented their research to a crowded room at the South By Southwest conference (SXSW) in 2009, and were immediately mentioned on NPR’s “All Tech Considered”.
John and Evan then created The Digital Beyond–thedigitalbeyond.com–as a think tank for digital death and legacy issues. The site has grown into the go-to source for digital afterlife information. The New York Times, Obit magazine, Orlando Sentinel, and The Austin Chronicle have mentioned The Digital Beyond and have consulted John and Evan on related stories. In November 2009, they appeared on CNN in a featured video story, “Planning Your Digital Afterlife.” They returned to SXSW in 2010 to host another session called “Become Immortal: Understanding the Digital Afterlife.”
Book Details
- Paperback: 216 pages
- Publisher: New Riders Press; 1 edition (November, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0321732286
- ISBN-13: 978-0321732286
- File Size: 7.5 MiB
- Hits: 259 times
