People have, no doubt, been eulogized on the net before.
This, however, was the world's first spontaneous electronic wake. Web sites sprang up in response to the wake and were flooded with readers. Within a day, there were web sites indexing the web sites. In real life, Deadheads can often feel alone while not on tour, because, as a group, they're spread out. One of the most common laments was that, on hearing the news of Garcia's death, no one else at home or the office understood what it meant to them.