I built an app for death, inspired by the death note anime
deathnote.ai
deathnote.ai
eh, that's besides the point.
i've been talks with my dad for over a decade about death because he's a hospice chaplain and his job is in the "industry" of death. but, he's in service of it, helping individuals and families begin to process the event and start their healing process. the stories that they share with him as the time approaches are, well, spell-binding.
one that kept coming up though was this idea of "final messages" to loved ones or even instructions to friends about things they cared about, like social media accounts, pets, and even instructions for the funeral and more. there are an infinite number of reasons why a "death note" or final note makes more sense than sharing it while you're alive.
functionally, it's a "digital" dead man's switch, which isn't a new concept. to my count there are 20+ services that are doing similar things and i support those, not as competitors but as partners cause honestly, this shit isn't supposed to scale (60m ppl die a year, so, that's the "TAM" if you will. lol).
but the real inspiration was the death note anime series. if you haven't seen that then i'd recommend it. it forces you to wrestle with the boundaries of good and evil and the practical application of ethics in a world very much like our own. except for the shinigami (or maybe not).
the concept of writing someone's name down and them dying is the exact inverse of what this is but conceptually it's the same. a note with final instructions except in this case you're writing your own name down (was that even ever mentioned as a possibility in the anime? i don't think so...).
anyways, i've loved building it with some friends. it's a side project that would be fun to become a full-time project but there's no rush. i just thought i'd share as i wait for something to compile.
love thoughts, suggestions on how to make it better, and whatever.