E-mail Time Capsules Message yourself 20 years from now

[Sarah81 0]

I just found this link to an experiment that Forbes is doing with Yahoo! and another company. For the next few weeks, we can write e-mails to ourselves that will be delivered to the e-mail addresses we specify ... up to 20 years from now.

 

It's actually pretty interesting, because Forbes has explained that there is a "redundancy" system to keep things from going wrong between now and the time that the e-mails are actually delivered. Basically, they're setting it up so that three different services (Forbes, Yahoo and Codefix Consulting in New York) are responsible for delivering these e-mails. But they've arranged so that we won't receive three copies of the e-mails.

 

Forbes doesn't guarantee that this will work, but they've put a lot of thought and effort into this.

 

So, if you want to write a letter to yourself that you'll get later (you can select 1, 3, 5, 10 or 20 years), get to it before November 30 - the date that Forbes is ending this project according to their Web site.

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Damned cool .. I'd definitely like to set some goals now and get a mail 20 years down the line to evaluate which all I managed to achieve.. Cool idea. Lots of possibilities.

[abhiram 0]

hehe... that's only if you maintain your email ids for 20 years . So far I've had my yahoo account for 6 years .... but I seriously doubt I'll have it for another 20 years. Nevertheless, I'll try it out ... no harm in just entering my email id right?

[YudzzY 0]

wow.. thats a kinda reminder system!i can actually plan my life for 20 years.. lol.. i can get a reminder after 10 years tht i need a baby, and i wil do it, get a reminder for buys car, house, i can even get a reminder saying "Hey, its been 15years since you using this ****" lol pretty cool waiting on thatbut what if the email expires then duh!

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Of course you'll be able to go to the site and set the email to your latest. That facility has to be there. Otherwise it beats the whole purpose. You just have to remind yourself to update your new email address there..

[Quatrux 4]

This is interesting, I wrote myself an email and hope to get it after a year, it would be quite funny

[ruben1405241511 0]

That is a great thing :-) I'm not romantic enough to bury a time capsule and this is a really good alternative!What do you write in there? I note down, what is moving me now and what my goals are. This is probably pretty interesting, since I will change a lot still from 16 to 36 if I live that long.I will send multiple emails to myself, because it is interesting what I thought, I would be after my "abitur" (baccalaureate), and what 10 years later. It is especially interesting in how far I can develop my job wishes. Let's be optimistic! I hope this email doesn't bring me down when I'm a 36 year old unemployed loser :-)–––––Don't you think that there will be something completely different than the internet in 20 years? I mean, some 3D stuff or so... and even if not, won't google be bankrupft in 20 years and won't my email address be gone? Now the inventors of the internet are still alive, but who knows what will happen, when the internet becomes the "books" of today in 20 years? Makes me think.

[cyborgxxi 0]

Wow, this idea seems really cool. Have you ever seen those time capsules people bury under the ground? It's really similar!! Hahaha... it's so good to think of old memories... the good ol' days where you hold LAN parties with your friends after school or that little Nokia phone you bought 20 years ago. Man... that would be so awesome but I would be so touched and awestruck because they're SUCH OLD MEMORIES!!Man, I'm going to try this out ;)Hahah!! This is cool... I would get this a year later. *snicker*

[twitch 0]

Interesting idea, but I find it hard to imagine that they will spend millions of pounds on this project for nothing. Who knows what critical information they might store for 20 years, and as far as I am aware, the data protection act only lasts 10 or so, therefore any copyrighted documents within the emails that they will retain will be propiertory to them.

[hazeshow 0]

Well, let's hope that we will all be able to remember our own names in twenty years! Otherwise we would be getting an email by some fool we don't even know talking silly stuff.

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

I found another barebones site - which does the same function, but loads much faster and setting up the email is just the matter of one small form. You can set advanced date upto 2035.

 

Here's the link: https://www.futureme.org/

[plot 0]

personally i think this is pretty usless why would you want to send yourself an email 20 years from now?? whats the use?

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Try making an estimate of how many gray hairs you'll have by then and mail that to you right now.. Match up and find out how accurate you were, 20 years down the line .. that's called the real usage of such a tool. Go ahead.. give it a try

[saxsux 0]

Interesting idea, but I find it hard to imagine that they will spend millions of pounds on this project for nothing. Who knows what critical information they might store for 20 years, and as far as I am aware, the data protection act only lasts 10 or so, therefore any copyrighted documents within the emails that they will retain will be propiertory to them.

1064328934[/snapback]

That's quite a scary thought actually. I always thought Yahoo were up to no good...

 

Who, in thier right mind, would possibly even think about wanting to send thier credit card details to themselves in twenty years time, though? And didn't the site say that the process was completely automatic? Surely, if they market it as being automatic, they can't go and read through everyone's emails, it would be against the Trade Descriptions Act, or something ...

I dunno.

[iGuest 3]

That is a pretty cool idea, but I don't think I could do it. I'd get depressed becaused in 20 years, I'll be 47 and I'll start feeling old and wishing I was young again. Or worse, I might not even be around!!