Several companies have explored the idea of showing funeral services on Internet sites for loved ones who can't attend in person. But even keyboard eulogies can help fill the need for closure that is raised by the death of someone close. You need to have some release when a loved one dies, to get beyond it and accept that they are gone, and funerals do that. We're humans, and it's natural to grieve, and this is how we deal with it. And in the end, changes in attitudes toward death itself may be far more important than changes in funeral customs.
Death can be more humane, and grieving can be facilitated.
People are standing up and sharing their stories. The song may be over, but it was a wonderful song. We're sad, but we're celebrating. In their tears, they're finding warmth, they're finding laughter. That seems to me to be optimally healing.