back to article Salesforce: Internet of Things is 'third wave of computing'

Salesforce is desperate for more of the world to get wired up with little sensors, so it can get at this data and hook it into its suite of technologies, then sell companies on the benefits of an increasingly data-led sales strategy. This lust for an instrumented world was outlined by Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff in …

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  1. nsld
    Terminator

    WTF

    "The chief executive was confused as to why more companies were not embarking on a social network strategy for their connected products. "If I'm on Facebook, why is my car not my friend?" he said.*"

    That would be because its a machine and doesnt yet have the capability to tell you its having a crap day in a status update, or that its having a relationship with a parking meter!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: WTF

      "To deal with the shift to the "mobile, social, cloud" world, companies will need to be better aware of their customers' needs and opinions....By instrumenting the items around us – fridges, jet engines, cars – companies can get better data on how products are being used, "

      ....... "better aware of their customers' needs and opinions".. Not one mention of Security. Hello?!!!

      "The launch of Social.com on Tuesday sees Benioff and his minions create an integrated ad-slinging and data-gathering package for social networks....With Social.com, Salesforce is making sure that brands can get as close to consumers as technology allows. If the idea of this turns your stomach, just wait till tech like Google Glass is ubiquitous – we're sure Benioff will make a speech about the importance of brands getting onto users' eyeballs, as well as their screens."

      ....... More social media Hype? Fatigue setting in, time to duck-and-cover or watch Charlie Brooker!

  2. Tom 35

    "If I'm on Facebook, why is my car not my friend?"

    Because it would be useless? Only people that want to show off their new Land Rover would want to do that.

    I also don't want a music service that uses a facebook log-on and posts everything I'm listening to, or a TV that tells everyone what I'm watching.

    For me this is all a solution without a problem.

    The fact that marketing turds think it's a great idea is another negative in my book.

  3. Jamie Jones Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Indeed....

    Surely the hot favourite article of quotes to win this months game of Bollox Bingo

  4. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge
    Alien

    "This idea – that everything is on the network and everything is wireless and everything is on these high-speed LTE networks – is the third wave of computing....It's transformational."

    I think he's bought out by the haxx0rs. Or maybe they're just blackmailing him.

    <--- I'm not ruling it out that he's a lizard overlord, either.

  5. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Meh

    Methinks I see a scaffolding attempt to support an extremely wobbly bubble,

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As an enforced Salesforce user, can I just say it sucks. That is all.

  7. Don Jefe
    Happy

    Poor Guy

    You'd think that having a leadership role at a large company like Salesforce would net you at least a couple of friends, but Marc seems really lonely, wanting to be friends with his car.

    I feel sorry for him. If I gave more than zero fucks about 'social' networks I would make him my friend.

  8. Infernoz Bronze badge
    Devil

    Google+ for Android already p's me off

    WTF do I want to see my devices _in public_ for, let-alone on some fake social media site *, that's so dumb, it has horrible security vulnerability implications too! Criminals would love all that extra information to target you or your possessions, even crack the devices to go rogue on you!

    * Social sites are not social, they are spy networks which give you the delusion of social iteration, while you make yourself look an utter vain ass.

    What a complete FUBAR Moron he is.

  9. FlatEarther
    Stop

    "The chief executive was confused as to why more companies were not embarking on a social network strategy for their connected products"

    Because the only benefit is for the Marketing types. It doesn't actually help anyone else\

  10. ecofeco Silver badge
    FAIL

    Oh hell NO!

    Privacy. I like mine.

    Now MYODB!

  11. Trustme

    Hicks, Bill Hicks - "Kill yourself"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

  12. Horatio Hornblower
    Holmes

    Not aimed at IT

    What the article misses is that this initiative by CRM is not aimed at IT people and this trend will gain more and more traction. They are pitching this to CMO's and other "shadow IT" types. The CRM sales model is to target the business, they run away from hard IT questions, in fact their feeling is if technical obstacle come up you are talking to the wrong person.

  13. hammarbtyp

    There is method to his madness...

    The whole concept comes from large companies seeing services as the new cash cow. However whether this can be applied to consumer products is questionable.

    if you are buying say a jet engine, there is a lot of value in the monitoring of that part so that you can analyse performance over time. You can use this information to advise on maintenance schedules, more efficiently schedule servicing, and better analyse potential failure modes. The idea here is that by using the same techniques used by companies such as google to analyse big data, you can better support your customer, producing a win-win scenario. This is already being done by companies like RR and GE

    This makes sense with a big ticket item, but it is questionable about whether it scales. You could argue that it would work with cars, since these are big purchases and require constant maintenance. So you could argue that by constantly analyzing performance via the cloud, the customer can be given better servicing advice and advised on possible upcoming failures, before they actually occur(for example by measuring battery life-cycles you could predict when it was likely to fail) . Another possible usage would be AC units or Central heating boilers. Again it could be used to better schedule maintenance.

    However would be of any use for something like a fridge or a TV? Seems unlikely. In these situations the benefits to the customer seem to be outweighed by the benefit accrued by the data collector. Here we have a situation akin to extended warranties, where customers would be made to pay for a service which they accrue very little net benefit.

  14. Bernard

    Ignoring for a moment

    the point raised repeatedly above that only morons would want inanimate objects as Facebook friends it's also an explicit violation of Facebook's terms and conditions.

    If I were a Salesforce shareholder wondering how on earth they were ever going to justify the absurd premium on a company that is still loss making then this wouldn't be terribly reassuring.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    What utter bollocks

    these sales and marketing people talk. The sad thing is it must be real to them. This must be some sort of metal illness: perhaps they need help.

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