No, I’m not talking about a book repository made entirely of lasagna (although…); Delicious Library is an awesome application for Mac OSX. But… Delicious Library? Why on earth would they name a program that? Well, the company is named Delicious Monster (still rather cryptic, although the website explains why), and technically, the program is called simply “Library”… well, at least to your Mac.
Okay, enough jibber-jabber about the blasted name. What does the thing actually do, you ask? Well, Delicious Library (DL) is an app for cataloging your music, movie and book collections. Oh, is that all? Trust me… this is much more impressive than it sounds. Take a gander at one of the screenshots in this post… the program looks very much at home with Apple’s iLife apps. In fact, I dare say it looks even cooler. Each item scanned in (more on that in a bit) is referenced to amazon’s expansive catalogue and cover images are automatically added (as well as all sorts of cool info on the item), and slick little filters are applied to make the CDs look like CD jewel cases, DVDs looke like DVD cases, paperbacks look like paperbacks, hardcovers… well, you get the idea. VERY slick.
What sets this program apart from the others is its ability to use an Apple iSight webcam as a barcode reader! Since I was lucky enough to pick up an iSight via my employer last year, I’ve made full use of this feature. It may seem like a trivial bit, but it is amazing how much it can speed up the cataloging process. I scanned in around 250 of my CDs (the one’s with bar codes that are on amazon) last night in about an hour. The rest of the CDs won’t be quite so easy… they aren’t on Amazon, so I have to enter the rest of the info in my hand. Now… if DL could do that work for me…
After using the app for about 20 minutes (and exhausting the 25 item limit on the demo), I was sold. At $40, DL isn’t exactly cheap, but it can also be had with a $10 competitive upgrade discount. And after using the program, you find yourself longing to own it… like an actual Apple product. Very good work by the folks at Delicious Monster, I must say.
What’s also so… Apple-like about DL is that it integrates with other Apple iApps… it grabs contacts from Address Book to use as “Borrowers.” That’s right… you can “check out” your library to friends and keep track of it. Take a peek at this screengrab of the Borrower catalogue to get the full effect.
I can barely do this program justice. Give it a shot… you may just love it.
the dalai lama is full of it. that dvd did nothing for me. NOTHING. so, this means, i’m still angry. angry at you. consider yourself toast. bye bye.
(i want this program)