Shoeboxed.com Aims to Satisfy Need for Convenience

I'm up for just about anything that makes my life easier. If it's going to shave off minutes, reduce stress or increase efficiency, I'll give it a try. So when I heard about Shoeboxed.com, a start-up created by Duke grads, I thought I'd give it a look -- most of all, because I am a big fan of fresh thinking and the bold ambitions of students.

The site bills itself as an antidote for spam and identity theft, specifically, by giving members an email address to use for all online shopping (and supposedly reducing spam in the inbox). The other big sell is organization. They keep all your receipts (even the hard copy ones if you scan them in) in one place. I considered it worth a tour since my receipts are bulging out of my wallet, scattered throughout my handbags, piled on my desk and typically deleted from my email.

I've poked around a bit, but I have to say I'm not yet sold. Maybe I'm just so used to having one email identity from which I do all that I want. Or maybe I'm not terribly burdened after all by the emails I already get because I sign up for them, deem them "junk" or just keep mindlessly deleting them.

But then there's the receipt storage service. Truth is, I'm not going take time at work or at home to scan those receipts. Just isn't going to happen. It's not on the top 10 list (or 20 or 30 for that matter) of ways to improve my life. However, I do want retailers to track my purchases, save my warranties, and make recommendations based on my history. Even more, I want a universal username and password that works at every online retailer so I don't forget all the goofy combinations that I've had to contrive over the years. Thank goodness for Google Checkout. Now that's a convenience worth my time. Maybe Shoeboxed and Google should talk.