Groqit barcode scanner has your hippocampus' back

C'mon, we've all done it. Standing vigilantly in front of the DVD section, our mind races to remember whether or not we already own Land Before Time 11: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, and in a fit of frustration, we make the purchase anyway only to come home and find it sitting peacefully in one of the thirteen movie racks. If that hits home, you should definitely take a peek at Groqit -- a handheld barcode scanner that prefers to be called a "personal inventory management system." Owners simply scan in every book, CD and DVD they own, take it along for any future shopping sprees and use it to tell whether or not they've already purchased a given title. It should be noted, however, that it doesn't play nice with jewel cases, but apparently, the manufacturer thinks the $95 price tag more than compensates. Honestly, is the return process that much of a hassle?

[BobTurbo @ Jan 18th 2008 7:39AM]

I thought up something like this for an assignment years ago but my idea was that you used a mobile phone to scan the product and it would give you information about the product, allow you to save it into a list for later purchasing, and so on.

[LivingNightmare @ Jan 18th 2008 2:31PM]

it's already been done

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

[Stuart @ Jan 18th 2008 7:43AM]

Is the name 'Groqit' a refrence to Stranger In a Strange Land, by Heinlein (as in, 'grok it' or to know)?

[WC @ Jan 18th 2008 7:44AM]

Stores won't allow you to take pictures. Why would they allow you to scan barcodes?

In case you haven't tried it, Best Buy (and other stores, though I have only asked them, not tried it) will tell you that you can't take pictures in the store because 'loss prevention' tells them they have to stop you.

How taking a picture so you can remember to buy something later prevents loss I will never know. I do know they lost over $1000 in sales that day.

I have asked other stores (multiple chains) and was told they would let me take pictures, but only because they knew me personally... Anyone else they would stop.

[Richard @ Jan 18th 2008 10:27AM]

I take pictures with my phone anyway :)

[Joseph @ Jan 18th 2008 1:08PM]

They don't want you to remember later when you are on Amazon and see a lower price. If you can't remember, you'll be back to the store to see what it was and possibly by something else while you're there.

[Azayzel @ Jan 19th 2008 7:22AM]

I've never had anyone tell me to stop, and I used to take pictures in all the retail electronics stores to compare prices & get specs. What they really don't want is for you to be in there with a video recorder catching them doing something they aren't supposed to be doing.

As to this devicee... cool idea, but a bit over-priced for my tastes. Make it $50 cheaper and I'll be all over it provided I can d/l the info to my PC & use it for inventory too.

[ecobore @ Jan 18th 2008 8:08AM]

Or buy the wonderful 'Delicious Library' for Mac and update the info foc to your iPod AND have a Great interface to browse your DVDs and books...

[david_42 @ Jan 20th 2008 6:52PM]

There have been many attempts to use cellphone cameras for reading UPC/EAN/JAN barcodes. Two problems: the resolution isn't high enough and few cameras are unable to focus down to 50mm. These consumer barcodes contain FOUR line widths and each line requires several pixels to be read accurately. Add to that the need for de-skewing to straighten the bars if a customer doesn't line the camera up exactly and you end up with frustrated customers. Amazon.jp has been trying for years to make this work. 2D codes require less resolution because they break the data up into multiple lines, each containing a few characters.

[Sam Zebian @ Jan 18th 2008 8:11AM]

My windows mobile phone scans 2d barcodes, if only I could find a program that would scan normal barcodes, then there would be almost no point to this device for me.

[OneLove @ Jan 18th 2008 12:17PM]

How?

[MonolithTMA @ Jan 18th 2008 8:12AM]

Picture taking in business is a good way to case the place when planning to rob it. That is why the loss prevention folks don't like it.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jan 18th 2008 8:17AM]

Their main reason is because they hate the competition coming in and scanning all their prices.

[Galley @ Jan 18th 2008 8:22AM]

Or better yet, you can access your library online on your iPhone, created by apps such as Delicious Library.

[Richard Koplow @ Jan 18th 2008 10:37AM]

www.readerware.com offers software that does both inventory books, CDs, etc, and also looks up information about each from Internet sources. Their s/w works with cheap scanners such as the free old cat-wands Radio Shack once gave out as well as many others, some sold by Readerware.

Gadgets such as these could be important as the basis for community book/media sharing libraries, enabling all participants to easily inventory their personal stock. I have not yet persuaded readerware to provide a pricing structure that would make that practical, although their s/w is said to be excellent and is priced modestly enough for thos sufficiently motivated.

[Evelyn Sinclair @ Jan 21st 2008 4:44PM]

Richard,

The “community” aspect of Groqit’s data sharing is immense. Unlike Readerware, Groqit’s site has resident (captive) databases, which can be accessed free by anyone – not just people who buy a Groqit device. All this data available directly from the site makes lookups quicker (and more accurate) than web-searches each time, AND more permanent: when someone enters an item not already in Groqit’s databases, that information can be added, benefiting the next person to look for that item.

Also, each site-member can create lists, place them in a Registry and share these lists with whoever they want. All free.

Groqit’s motive is to make their devices more desirable – you can share data with all your friends without their having to buy anything. But it goes beyond sharing wishlists with friends. There’s a Forum. People who want to swap or sell stuff can share. They can select who to share lists with and even designate specific lists to make available on an individual basis.

All these lists can be downloaded and printed (for those who prefer paper). The advantages of owning the Groqit device are the reader capability and data portability, of course.

But it sounds like the Groqit tools could be used to accomplish a lot of what you want without any cost at all!

[Sakura3210 @ Jan 18th 2008 11:25AM]

I can kind of see this being useful at conventions, as it can be hard to return things bought at them. Other than that, there doesn't seem much use for it (for the reasons noted by everyone above).

[mb @ Jan 18th 2008 11:52AM]

CueCat 2.0

[evanlcooper @ Jan 18th 2008 2:00PM]

Yeah, :CueCat, but 4x as expensive and less flexible unless it's hackable too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat

[OneLove @ Jan 18th 2008 12:16PM]

Take some frickin ginko and use your brain for free. lol.

[Evelyn Sinclair @ Jan 18th 2008 4:07PM]

A lot of the services on the Groqit.com website are free. No one has to buy the gadget to use the online tools.

Friends can share lists with each other. Not just wishlists, but lists of stuff they already have (in case someone wants to get you a movie as a gift, when you already have a whole lot of movies).

You can make lists of books you loaned out, CDs you want, movies you hated -- anything -- and share them with chosen friends.

[ScooterDe @ Jan 18th 2008 5:22PM]

many retailers place their own barcodes on products, often over top of the manufacturers' barcodes. Peeling stickers off the packets is pretty unpopular.

[Jitter @ Jan 20th 2008 12:48PM]

CueCat was a misguided effort to get people to dwell on advertising and push them to buy things they didn't know they wanted.

This is very different. The free tools on the Groqit site are very well thought out. They look quite helpful for anyone with a large collection of anything wether it has barcode or not. Somebody there has a good grasp of what a collector needs from a database. I'm a little putoff though that their homepage looks so mid-nineties.

Im not sure if I want to carry around another gadget but if this was available for my BlackBerry, I'd pay them for it. Then again, if my wife surprises me with one instead of once again buying me something I already have.....

[John @ Jan 21st 2008 2:48AM]

Well, if you have a father with over 1000 DVDs (I know. He's disgusting :/) then this would be awesome. He'd have something to do for a week and a half... hahaha

[david_42 @ Jan 21st 2008 8:25AM]

If your Dad had his list of 1000 DVDs online, you could sign up for the free services & he could share his list. You could share your lists of games with him or your friends. You would know who has what, what they want, what they are willing to loan out or trade. What you've loaned out & who has it.

[Aaron @ Jan 24th 2008 5:30PM]

www.collectorz.com also has some similar products.