When I reflect on the growth of the Internet as I have experienced it as a user, a few personal landmarks stand out: my first email, the first time I played a networked game, the first flame war I got sucked into, the first web page I created (a list of links of course!), the first time I surfed the web from a public bathroom, etc.

This morning, for some reason, I recalled the first time I received email from the dead.  This was around 2003.  A colleague at another company passed away.  One of his co-workers logged into his computer and emailed everyone in his address book to share the news.  Although the “From:” line held the name of the deceased, the body clearly identified that theemail was from the co-worker.  Still, it was incredibly weird.

Now there are posthumous email services (some of which offer free trials!).  I have yet to be at the receiving end of one of their emails (or the sending end for that matter).  I imagine it will be very strange, indeed, to receiveposthumous email written in the first person.