For Plan Your Epitaph Day (April 6th)...Plan Your Epitaph for a Video Tombstone

SAN MATEO, Calif. - March 21, 2015 - PRLog -- FOR PLAN YOUR EPITAPH DAY (April 6th)...WHAT KIND OF EPITAPH WOULD YOU RECORD FOR A VIDEO TOMBSTONE...AND WOULD IT BE TRUTH OR LIES?

April 6th is Plan Your Epitaph Day. Coincidentally, April 2nd is Tell a Lie Day.

“Imagine the kinds of stories we might hear on April 6th if people started planning their epitaphs for use in video tombstones or in video memorials online, says Robert Barrows, the inventor of a video tombstone called the Video Enhanced Gravemarker (U.S. Patent #7,089,495)...and would a lot of those video epitaphs be truth or lies?”

“What kinds of things would you record for your own video epitaph if you knew you were going to die today?” he asks.

“And on April 6th, for Plan Your Epitaph Day, when you start thinking about your own epitaph, you might also want to start recording a video epitaph because you might someday want to use part of that video in an actual video tombstone or even in a video memorial that you might want to post online or just leave for your family” says Barrows.

“Video tombstones will change the way we look at life and death, says Barrows, and on a day like Plan Your Epitaph Day...if you start recording your own obituary while you are still alive, it might force you to examine things about your life that you might not have even considered before. And with April 6th being Plan Your Epitaph Day, that day of reckoning may be closer than you think.”

“In addition to having a major impact on your own view of your own life, says Barrows, video tombstones will also have a tremendous impact on many aspects of society.”

Video tombstones will also create a lot of controversy and video tombstones might also create some fascinating Free Speech issues because who knows what people might say from beyond their grave through their video tombstone, and will it be truth or lies?

“Plus, video tombstones will also create a whole new genre of storytelling, perfect for movies, books and TV,” and along these lines, Barrows has also written a book called “Cemetery of Lies.”

“Cemetery of Lies” is a collection of intimate secret confessions, as told from beyond the grave, through video tombstones. The stories are about life and love, sex and romance, good and evil, success and money, truth and lies and Heaven and Hell, with insights and advice about almost every aspect of our lives,” according to Barrows. (You can see more about "Cemetery of Lies" at www.barrows.com/novel.html)

NOW, ALONG THE LINES OF PLANNING YOUR VIDEO EPITAPH... (First, get the lighting right and make sure that your wardrobe, hair and makeup look good too)...Then, the question is...

...WHAT KINDS OF THINGS WOULD WE HEAR FROM YOUR VIDEO EPITAPH?

*Would you say sweet things to loved ones?

*Would it finally be time to tell your side of the story?

*Would it be time to make amends?

*Or would it be time to say everything you never had the guts to say nor the opportunity to say while you were still alive?”

Imagine the controversies that will arise when video tombstones start appearing in cemeteries on a regular basis.

For one, it will make cemeteries fascinating places to visit because who knows what you might hear from some of the video tombstones, and cemeteries will come “alive” with all kinds of stories that might be told through video tombstones.

“And imagine the controversy over the free speech issues” says Barrows.

They say "Dead men tell no tales"...Well, not anymore! Wait until you hear what they might be saying about you down at the graveyard...and will it be truth or lies? And, oh yes, what kinds of things would you record for your video tombstone if you knew you were going to die today?

HERE ARE SOME OF THE FREE SPEECH ISSUES THAT WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH VIDEO TOMBSTONES:

*What if someone confesses to a crime or makes an incrimination?

*What if they say something slanderous?

*What if they say something anti-governmental?

*Do the dead have free speech rights, too?

*And what can you do if they say something that is true or untrue or not so nice about you?

*How can you pull the plug, and whom can you sue?

*Worse yet, how can you collect?

"With these kinds of free speech issues, video tombstones will create some very fascinating Free Speech Issues that could go all the way to the Supreme Court" says Barrows.

"Video tombstones will also have some interesting implications on many aspects of society," says Barrows.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF VIDEO TOMBSTONES:

1) Video Tombstones will change the way we look at life and death.

When you start recording your own obituary while you are still alive, it will force you to examine things about your life that you may not have even considered before.

2) Video tombstones will change the way that history is told.

Now you will be able to go to video tombstones and get the story from the people themselves. (Of course, it will indeed be their side of the story, and depending on what they say, and how they view things, that may also create some interesting controversies.)

3) The advent of the video tombstone will also create changes in estate law so that people may have to specify that "Yes, they do want a video tombstone, or no they do not want a video tombstone." (The late Jeff Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal covered this angle of the invention in his April 7, 2005 Moving On column.) "And, Barrows adds, if a person doesn't make a video prior to their death, or if they don't specify who among their survivors may make a video and what people can say in a posthumous video, will survivors be able to make a video to be played in their video tombstone, and will there be limits on the content of the messages?"

4) "Video Tombstones will also create a whole new genre of storytelling...with all kinds of stories that may be told through video tombstones.

The video tombstone is an incredible storytelling device that is likely to inspire countless tales that will be told through video tombstones," according to Barrows.

While Barrows was working on the patent application, he started writing a book called “Cemetery of Lies.” You can see more about it at www.barrows.com/novel.html.

5) In addition, the advent of the Video Tombstone will also create two new industries:

A) Manufacturing Video Tombstones, and

B) Producing content for use in video tombstones

6) "Video tombstones will also make cemeteries fascinating places to visit, according to Barrows, because who knows what kinds of juicy stories might be entombed in the video tombstones of both celebrities as well as ordinary people? And who knows who was doing what with whom" he adds. Perhaps we shall find out from their video tombstone?

7) Video Tombstones will also create some major new revenue opportunities for many sectors of the funerary industry including monument builders, funeral homes, perpetual care fund providers and cemeteries.

For more information, contact Robert Barrows at 650-344-4405.