Online Funerals: "Bobby From Texas Sends His Condolences..."

As of Tuesday, April 1, 2008, pay-per-view funerals went live online in the UK. I had read this article a few months ago, but I re-read the BBC article today and I had one thought: Brilliant!
Who wants to go to funerals anyway? The only reason anyone shows up is so the family members still around don't smack talk you when you pull a no show, right? By paying for a live internet feed, you can at least pretend that you wanted to attend, but it just wasn't possible because of work or because of lack of funds.

OK, I get it. Your dear uncle Louie from London passed on and there is no way you can make the trip with the price of airfare being what it is. Doesn't this take away from the connection (real or pretend) that you're supposed to have with the deceased's family? Soon they're going to read your IMs during the service and express your text condolences to the mourners. Maybe they'll read your text messages aloud during the funeral. Or maybe watch cousin Morty's funeral at livevblog.com. Or will you just sign up and log in to watch the funeral while you fool aroud with your 23 year old administrative assistant?

Year after year, the internet has made social connectivity a casualty of technology. It is now possible to "keep in touch" with people you haven't really spoken to in over a year, simply by forwarding an email to them periodically. At the same time, you can break up with girlfriends, quit your job and slowly detach from actual people just by sitting in your house. How many kids forgo the awkwardness of making physical friends and spend hours daily making friends in chat rooms and on You Tube? How many kids' only outlet to "friends" is a daily video blog about the sandwich they ate at school and what little miss popular wore to 5th period?

The internet has connected us across great distances. You may now have a friend across the country or across the globe. It has also succeeded in separating us from human contact with the people down the block or even next door.

In either the movie Judge Dredd or Demolition Man (thanks to my friend for the correction - all those movies were alike), there is a scene where the main character is informed that reproduction now occurs without human, physical contact. Makes you wonder how far away from that we are...