[musicale]

I tend to think that CRM is the wrong model for friends and family.

Brain + contact info on your computer/phone + calendar with reminders for birthdays etc. + pencil and paper for notes catches the most important things but allows us to forget the less important things.

[tenpies]

What's the major difference between what you're suggesting and a CRM?

I tend to think back of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and there's an entire chapter devoted to what is basically an analog CRM and devoting time to staying up to date with it (including scheduling calls).

If anything I think a CRM applies even more because I care more about friends and family than I do about a sales pipeline. More effort = more importance, in my book.

Also there's the added bonus of not having to remember these things so I can focus on remembering more useful things.

[musicale]

The major differences for me are intent, whether it's retaining more information than you'd normally remember (which seems creepy and intrusive) and whether it's a paid service or subscription.

1. Intent design: CRM seems designed principally as a sales tool and I don't want to sell or be sold to.

2. Information retention: I think regular calendar/contacts/reminders built into your phone balances the "don't forget important stuff" with "don't make an effort to keep track of things that aren't important."

3. Paid service/subscription: I'm OK with contacts apps but I kind of have contacts, notes, and a calendar built into my phone already and have no desire to pay a subscription fee.

Elaborating on (1) a bit: I don't really set out to "influence" my friends and I'd be kind of unhappy if they were trying to "influence" me.

Influencing family might make more sense though, like influencing kids to study or family members to exercise and eat a healthy diet.

The danger in family and friend relationships is turning things into a contract which can be unforgiving and intrusive. "Well, household database shows that you've been late taking the garbage out 52% of the time for the past 3 years!"

As a child I dreamed of having a smartwatch that would record everything my family members said so I could play it back to them and prove infallibly that I was right. I was glad they didn't have such a thing to apply to me though.

I imagine in the future we'll be wearing smart glasses or contact lenses that will identify the name of any person within view who we've met before, as well as their relevant statistics and information including data from online services like social media or dating sites (much the way that CRM provide sales clerks with information on every customer who walks into the store.) I'm not sure that's entirely a good idea.

[TheOperator]

Using a CRM tool like this means generating data that is only usefully formatted when using the tool which makes its long term utility highly dependant on the tools maintainer. Calendar+contacts+notes are already standards, already very portable, already very mature, we've had gcal running for a decade and a half now. Unless you're intending to completely replace your calendar/contacts/notes somehow it's a net gain in overhead and complexity.