I’ve just come across this riveting software program called Delicious Library 2, and I’m totally, completely hooked.

You hold up a book to your computer, and within 5 seconds the book jacket, the blurb, the tech spec including publisher, ISBN, price, format, reviews, other reader comments and recommendations for further reading simply appear on the screen.  What’s more the graphics are fun — the books are sorted by author and displayed on wooden ‘shelves’, with tabs below for Synopsis, Details, Reviews and Recommendations.

So last night I sat in front of the computer with a pile of my books and fed them in. It handled about 12 a minute. So clever! Then it ran out, because the trial version is limited to 30 inputs. Fair enough.

I think I’ve got about 4,000 books in the house, so that’s my rainy days sorted. Everyone else has probably known about this program for years, but I’ve only just discovered it. Why didn’t you tell me?

Once everything else had been invented, the program was simple and obvious — it’s just that somebody had to think of it. That’s not unlike the gestation of fotolibra.

You just need a computer with a videocam and broadband. The camera built in to the computer acts as the scanner. It reads the book’s barcode, queries 6 databases (obviously Amazon, among others) and immediately delivers the results to the screen.

Ingenious, smart and useful. At last I can catalogue my library. The only downside is the weird disembodied voice that says “Follies Grotto-eez and Garden Buildings by Gwine Heedley and Wim Mimmelkimp”. Maybe I can turn it off. Another fascinating infosnip is it gives the current secondhand price for each item — a surprising $88 for FG&GB. Anyone want a signed copy for $50?

They want $40 for the program. What the hell. That’s only £20; I can pay that. There’s a trial version on the cover CD for the September Macworld.

This is how the makers describe their own program:
“When we demo Delicious Library to people, about ⅔ of them instantly say this:
“Wait, I just hold a CD or DVD or video game or book or whatever up to my webcam, and it magically reads the UPC and downloads that item’s cover and all pertinent information about it, and displays all my stuff on photorealistic shelves? I’ll take it! Right now! This is why I bought a computer in the first place! ”

But a few people are skeptical, or slightly less obsessive. “Ok,” they say, “then I have my stuff in my computer. Big whoop. I can just look at my real shelf, right now, for free.”

And we say, “True, but have you ever had someone break in and steal all your CDs or DVDs? Your insurance company wants an exact list of what you had, but you can’t remember every last thing, and so for years afterwards you think, ‘Drat, I forgot to list Rocky Horror Picture Show, and now it’s too late!’ Well, with Delicious Library you always have a complete inventory of your stuff, with replacement costs. You can print it or back it up to the web, so it’s not going anywhere.

“Or, have you ever loaned a book or DVD or $200 DeWalt Cordless Driver to a friend, and forgotten which friend? And then bought another? With Delicious Library you just drag any item onto any friend from your Address Book, and it’ll remember the loan for you — and even put an entry in iCal reminding you when it’s due. Or maybe you have something lying around you don’t use, like an out-of-print book, that’s worth serious bucks and you don’t know it? Because with Delicious Library 2 you always know the current value of your things, and can put your used items up for sale with three clicks. Or maybe you just want to publish your library to the web and share it with your friends…”

At this point, usually the only people who aren’t buying are the ones who don’t own Macs. To them, we say: we’re sorry. For the rest of you… enjoy.”

I totally concur.

http://www.delicious-monster.com/

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