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Saturday, July 23, 2005

Delicious Library

Let's hop in the Way Back Machine ™ for a moment.

The Delicious Library is now available and should not be confused with the also amazing del.icio.us bookmark service. It's $40 a crack and to really make it as cool as possible you will need some sort of device, be it digital video or hand-held bluetooth scanner, to read the barcodes on your books, CDs, DVDs or video games. Even with that caveat, this looks to be a killer app.

That was me in November of 2004. Just today I bought a copy of Delicious Library. It's a long story about why, but that is neither here nor there. The fact is, it does rock and I feel it's worth every penny of that $40. I couldn't quite pull the trigger on the $175 Bluetooth scanner, but it was tempting. In one day I've managed to get my entire DVD collection and PS2/Mac/PC games scanned in. I also got a good jump on the books, although the wife has half a room full of paperbacks. The CD collection, well...lets just say that I got a good start today.

One of the coolest features is the ability to drag from Amazon links from Safari (or Firefox) into the library to add an item. Since I'm using an iSight as my scanner, this was a huge time saver, especially with the music. It also groks links from the Amazon UK store, which is good news for everyone with large collections of UK import CDs (read: me).

I'll admit that the catalyst for finally taking the plunge was this Drunken Blog interview with Wil Shipley (via The Linked List of course).

posted by Propeller Head at 9:23 PM

16 Comments:

  • Funny, I came to the same conclusion post-interview...

    By Anonymous mrakes, at 11:55 PM  

  • Hmmm.... I've read a lot of positive feedback / pre-release excitement about Delicious Library, but when I tried it (back before I sold my iSight), I was severely disappointed.

    I don't think it recognized any book, DVD or CD I have. It recognized the bar codes, but then would generally not be able to find out what product it was. (Maybe it was because a lot of my DVDs etc. are European? But it even had problems with US products.)

    Also, it didn't make it easy for me to find out what the problem was, or to correct it: it just put a nondescript brown box in the database. No admission of failure, no easy jumping to the dialog where I would be able to help it, nothing.

    This was a while ago, so the details may be off, but my sense of disappointment is still fresh ;) It was completely useless to me, so I deleted it.

    Has anyone else had that problem? Has it been improved?

    By Anonymous J. Horneman, at 2:29 AM  

  • To J. Horneman: Maybe you want to check out Mediaman (http://www.imediaman.com) as an alternative, in case you have a win pc in addition to your mac.

    I think MediaMan's webcam feature is still in beta mode, so it might not be better than Delicous', but MediaMan is free, so giving it a try doesn't hurt.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:17 AM  

  • People rave about Delicious Library. I have it. And bought it for the bundle of the bluetooth scanner.

    But it is flawed, and the less fanciful alternatives out there might recognize more. And that is really what you want, no? Not a load of pictures, although that is nice.
    I just want a list of the titles, and the type of media they are, that I could sort spreadsheet style.

    Delicious Library main flaw is that it is entirely Amazon Dependant, as it hopes to make its money suggesting sales. If the book is out of print, as much of your library most likely is, you could draw a blank on a scan. And amazon has its own custom codes for certain media, that may not be linked to ISBN, or UPC.

    The other scanner/librarians hit mulitple databases for the same info everytime you scan. They are intent on IDENTIFYING and LISTING your items, not DESCRIBING them or recommending similar items. They probably even work better at this task, because they do not have the set limits of DL.

    But DL has the eye candy, and the blog buzz. They made it look hot. And they marketed it right, hitting the right bundle price point without confusing potential customers.

    Try one of the other librarians, if it lists compatibility with your scanner, and get back to us. I have the feeling they are greatly neglected.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:56 AM  

  • Yes, they are dependent on Amazon (and Amazon UK) for product info. Yes, they are trying to work out deals with other information vendors. Yes, it's "flawed" in that it will not know everything you own.

    By Blogger Patrick, at 11:32 AM  

  • Speaking of Delicious Monster:

    http://www.mikematas.com/blog/2005/07/moving-to-apple.html

    By Blogger pbx, at 6:53 AM  

  • you can live with delicious library without amazon
    and add your "own" stuff.

    DL is nice and easy to use, it's why I use it (and of course for its isight scanning)

    DL 1.5 can now use european and japanese amazon store. it sures helps ! (I'm french and have many japanese stuff too)

    DL is "hot" on blog because it's really a nice little software
    of course it's not the Final Software to End All Software.

    it's just a really nice little software.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:38 AM  

  • I tried out version 1.5, it found a lot more stuff, like 80%-90% :)

    By Anonymous j. horneman, at 3:53 PM  

  • Try LibraryThing.com. It's an online service I just made. It mines the Library of Congress, not Amazon. I built it for myself: I just don't understand people whose entirely library is in print—they can't have been collecting long!

    It reads Delicious Library files too.

    By Blogger LibraryThing, at 2:17 AM  

  • i just don't get it.

    wot's the point of cataloguing your reads/muse/ other mental meat? del.icious or however you parse it is a great idea - meta-data and all that fanciness. but do you REALLY have (or need?) so much info and brainfood that you need a system to let you know what you have - and moreso what you need? no hablo? i don't mean to be circular...i just cannot wrap my mushy pink brain around us monkeys spending more time on organizing our collections than just enjoying them. take it as it comes and let your mind absorb in the now. i'm ridiculously oversimplifying it, maybe?? i would dearly love someone to give me some tangible chewy thought on why you should dedicate so much (-any- actually) time on finding out exactly what you've read , have, heard, need - and instead focus that time on the reading and hearing and omit the classifying. i beg in earnest for satori.. :-)
    eatpeople@gmail.com

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    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:23 AM  

  • I found myself with some extra time, so I'm finally writing what I've been thinking for a long time:

    Rediculous.

    I am a huge fan of eye-candy, etc., a borderline Mac fanboy, early adopter, programmer, sci-fi fan, technology advocating, contact syncing, PDA toting dork, but seriously, this app is off the charts in geekiness. We have to draw a line!

    Seriously, what is the point? Are you that consumed by consumerism that you don't even know what you have? I cannot imagine a scenario in which you will need to go to your computer to figure out what you have. If you don't remember if you have it, or don't know where it is, just stop buying so much junk. If you have SO much stuff that you don't remember where it is, you have a serious Pac-Rat disorder. I just don't get it, unless you're using it as a business platform for renting or selling. Other than that...well....

    I don't get it.

    But "anonymous" said it best:

    i just don't get it.

    wot's the point of cataloguing your reads/muse/ other mental meat? del.icious or however you parse it is a great idea - meta-data and all that fanciness. but do you REALLY have (or need?) so much info and brainfood that you need a system to let you know what you have - and moreso what you need? no hablo? i don't mean to be circular...i just cannot wrap my mushy pink brain around us monkeys spending more time on organizing our collections than just enjoying them. take it as it comes and let your mind absorb in the now. i'm ridiculously oversimplifying it, maybe?? i would dearly love someone to give me some tangible chewy thought on why you should dedicate so much (-any- actually) time on finding out exactly what you've read , have, heard, need - and instead focus that time on the reading and hearing and omit the classifying. i beg in earnest for satori.

    ~Awesome.

    Reminds me of the classic Weird Al line, in "It's All About the Pentiums, Baby!", when he proudly declares, "I'm the king of the spreadsheets, got 'em all printed out on my bedsheets!"

    I personally would rather spend time with girls.

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