As a self-admitted media junkie, my collection of CDs, DVDs and, yes... still a few leftover VHS tapes has grown to immense proportions over the years. Alphabetizing what's on the rack used to work, but it's not foolproof. It doesn't keep complete track of my entire inventory, since things can be scattered at home, in the car, at the office, or "borrowed" by a friend. Long ago, I had a lot of stuff cataloged in a spreadsheet, but it was a bear to keep it up and was limited in the information I had recorded.

Well, Hallelujah! My prayers have been answered! Socket Communications has introduced OrganizeIT, an elegant new solution to keeping track of everything digital and analog. Its main feature is a barcode scanner that attaches to many popular PDAs via an SDIO card. This allows for easy identification and tracking via the standard UPC codes on the media cases. The next component is a software workhorse. It connects to an online service to pull all the details into your new media database by using the barcode info. Movie details like cast, director, ratings, and CD details like track info and label are all automatically updated. You can even create barcode labels for all those homemade CDs! OrganizeIT also goes so far as to give pricing information, so you can have your collection's replacement value at a glance for your insurance agent. The software can be loaded to a PC and synched with the PDA, or can utilize your PDA's wireless technology to keep the complete database on your handheld!

Looks like I might actually be able to get my marass in order! No more buying duplicates for me! Now, if only they could invent something to deal with the growing collection of CDs with missing jewel cases and jewel cases with no CDs that I have...