Hi Mark,

Blame it on the evil, seductive wiles of Classical Music.

This is one of the major inspiration behind the Groqit.

I can remember things like whether or not I've got an album called "Sticky Fingers" or "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (I think) but classical music often has very un-memorable titles.

With Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi and that sort, you don't have albums and songs with catchy titles very often. They usually have "Opus numbers" with extra helpers like what subdivision of opus it might be and what key it's in, and whether it's a Concerto, a Sonota, etc.

Mozart wrote a LOT of music. So if you like Mozart, you can find yourself wondering if you've already got recordings of pieces with names like "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra no. 23 in A major, K. 488" or "Symphony No. 36 in C major, K. 425".

Mozart pieces have Kochel numbers, rather than mere Opus numbers. Vivaldi has RV numbers (usually -- he also got opus numbers). Bach has BWV numbers. These people's output has been catalogued by serious specialists because it was very hard to keep track of, in part because of the sheer amount.

Vivaldi, for instance, composed more than 600 concerti. So, lucky you, if you like Vivaldi concerti. But Murphy is just waiting to send you home with the same ones you've heard before, because some get to be favorites with musicians and audiences.

If I were smart I'd have stayed away from all of it -- but now I've got lots of Baroque and early music, and I can't seem to stop hankering for new thrills; concerti I haven't heard before, sonatas new to me....

I guess if I were a reasonable sort, I'd just listen to whatever comes on the local classical station. If I could just be satisfied listening to Pachelbel's Canon in D over and over, and the other "greatest hits" -- but no! I've gotten in too deep and want the harder to find stuff. The "light" classics just don't do it for me any more. I've developed, you know -- specialized tastes.

Some classical music does have titles that aren't mostly numbers. Bach wrote plenty of pieces with names. But here's the kind of stuff I need help keeping track of --

A few JC Bach cantatas (BWV 197 - 208) (the autohelpers here keep renumbering the list):

...197. Gott ist unsre Zuversicht 197.a Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe

1. Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl
2. Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut
3. Bekennen will ich seinen Namen
4. Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde
5. Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten
6. Amore traditore
7. Ich bin in mir vergnügt
8. Zerreißet, zersprenget, zertrümmert die Gruft 205.a Blast Lärmen, ihr Feinde
9. Schleicht, spielende Wellen
10. Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten 207.a Auf, schmetternde Töne
11. Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd...

"Peter Frampton's Greatest Hits" -- I'd know if I had that. Lucky people with normal musical tastes can download plenty of "tunes" legally and otherwise; once you've done that, you probably keep track of them on your computer using it's built-in systems for organizing and searching. (You do, don't you!)

Well, if you're strung out on classical stuff, you can't even steal the tunes, because they're not out there to swipe online. So we have to buy actual physical CDs.

So that's the whole sordid story.

Well, except for this Science Fiction Series jones, but that's just too depraved to go into in public.

[Edited at April 23, 2008 17:40:52 PM.]

[Edited at April 23, 2008 17:43:32 PM.]

[Edited at April 23, 2008 17:45:39 PM.]

[Edited at April 23, 2008 17:50:28 PM.]

Why you need to search your Groqit by Category:

Say you want to know if you have the book "Gone With the Wind." If it's in your Books category, you can look it up there. But what if it's in your Wishlist? Then, if you checked in a more general way, you'd know if was in one of your lists, and assume you own it.

In fact, if you have also downloaded your best friend's Wsihslist, it might be there, or on the big list of books your uncle Bill has, that you keep with you so you can buy him a non-duplicate as a gift. You want to know not just if the item appears on one of the lists, but WHICH list.

The Groqit's site has useful tools that the device alone does not have. It's a lot easier to create and organize lists on your computer than it is to manipulate them on the Groqit device itself, if only because of screen-size.

Searching your entire inventory across all Categories, is easily done online. Log into My Groqit, select the Inventory button in the upper right corner of your screen, then click "Search My Inventory", which is in the upper left right at the top of the inventory list.

[Edited at April 17, 2008 14:18:07 PM.]

Some responses from Groqit to specifics in the review:

"The application...is quite basic. ...Unfortunately, the local application gives you absolutely no way to manipulate the data. To do that, you have to sign up for an account on the Groqit website."

1. • The desktop application was made to be as simple as possible so we could avoid updates; all it does is move data from a Groqit to the Membership area on the site. By placing most of the functionality on the site, users avoid having to perform application updates and they can access their inventory from any computer, not just their own. This also makes sharing their information with other people easy.

2. -We wanted to make sure people know that signing up for the account is absolutely free.

Most of our web services are free and a person can use them without buying a Groqit. Paid membership give you more of everything that's free, plus additional capabilities.

"The web services also allow you to create wish lists and buddy lists so that your friends (even if they don't own a Groqit) can check to see if you own an item before buying it for you."

--The FREE web services: This is a really important social aspect of the Groqit site. Since anyone can become a member and use the free services, your Groqit Buddies can be any of your friends. Having the device is great for portability (and naturally we do want people to buy them) but we figure the device is a lot more valuable if you're able to have all your friends' wishlists for when you go shopping. Or have the list of all your nephew's games (for instance) so even if he has 50 of them, and you can't remember what they are, you can get him a surprise he doesn't have.

Here is a link to the "What do I get FREE When I don't buy anything?" page

"Even people that don't own a Groqit can reference people's wishlists to help them figure out what items they can buy without duplication."

-- This is part of the Groqit Buddies option. It is absolutely private and secure. You invite the friends you wish to share with, and choose which lists to share with them; the other party must agree via email before lists are shared.

"Signing up will get you a 30 day trial of their basic paid services."

-- Signing up will also get you absolutely free services!

The online tools make list-creation easier by filling in a lot of information for you automatically. For instance, when you type in a Book Title, it will offer to fill in Author, plus UPC and ISBN. Or if you type in the ISBN it will give back Title and Author from the site's book database. The site fills in about 3/4 of the information. This drudgery-reduction can make an otherwise fearsome challenge far less daunting.

The Groqit site readily translates barcodes to product information, of course, as that’s the preferred way of entering data. 

The site has data already there, on its servers, which makes for speedy results. The site stores information on millions of books, movies, games and CDs. (In comparison, there is software for sale that goes out and searches the web for information, which is time consuming and less accurate.) 

You can store your lists securely on Groqit's site. This too is free. If a catastrophe happens, you can retrieve that data for insurance purposes.

You can download your lists to print out. Or you might decide to get the Groqit device and have your lists in your pocket when you go out shopping.

The limitation on free lists is 100 items per category, and you can make as many categories as you want.

"The Groqit Personal Inventory Management System is an interesting tool for someone that enjoys collecting things."

-- Even non-collectors can make use of this way of sharing lists -- putting wishlists in one place, updating them in one place, and sharing with friends. The kid with a dozen video games doesn't think of himself as a "collector" but how are you supposed to remember which games he has? The kid signs up for free services and makes his list so you can give him a new game, secure he doesn't have it -- not something dull he doesn't want.

So free services = no more dull gifts. We thought you'd like to know.

Evelyn Sinclair Groqit

[Edited at April 14, 2008 14:29:20 PM.]