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Product: Cataloging software
Format: Download
Developer: Delicious Monster
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.5
Price: $40
Availability: Now
Version Reviewed: 2.7

Delicious Library is the app that started the Delicious Generation, or recognition of the importance of the GUI among software developers. It takes cataloging your collections of stuff and makes it easy, fun and beautiful with its amazing user interface. It will keep track of your music, movies, books, games, toys, electronics, tools, and clothing. Soon, you’ll be scanning and cataloging your entire collection of stuff while loosing track of time as the hours pass by.

Sadly, Delicious Monster is not a 100 pound fried chicken. According to Wikipedia, “The company’s name is based on the name of a plant that grows in the rainforests of tropical America, Monstera deliciosa. It is colloquially known as the Swiss cheese plant.”  While you can’t eat it, you can take consolation in the fact that Delicious Library makes the most visually delicious application available for the Mac.

Delicious Library is all about making a record of your collections, and doing it in style.  Its scanning technologies make this task simple and fun. You can either purchase the bluetooth scanner and make Wil Shipley mad (more on this later), or you can use the built in iSight on your Mac in a similar fashion. I think Delicious Monster really describes this whole process beautifully.

“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!”

Ok, so maybe you didn’t buy a Mac just to keep a record of your huge DVD collection, but it is a great use of your Mac.

Delicious Library attempts to identify your products based on the barcode scanned.  It takes this barcode and checks for product information on Amazon.  If it finds the item, all of the details are filled in, saving you tons of time.  Plus, it will give you product reviews and recommendations straight from Amazon.  So, truthfully, you can automatically add anything to your library that is available for purchase on Amazon. If you can’t scan your possession, you can do a keyword search for it. If it’s not on Amazon, you’re not completely out of luck, it will just be a more involved process. You’ll have to enter in all of the information by hand, and take a picture of it too.

I think most users have a desire for an increased database of items for DL to reference from. But the fact is that the developer is not interested in an application that doesn’t work the way it’s intended At the current time, other databases are just not acceptable to Delicious Monster. Maybe in the future, but who knows?

If you purchase Delicious Library mainly for insurance purposes, then you’ll definitely want to go through the process of manually adding everything you own. And it’s really a good idea to do this even if you don’t need the insurance record. I know I could have used this record on my iPhone the last time I went shopping. I honestly couldn’t remember what colors and patterns of ties I already own, and almost bought the same one twice. If I had the record in my pocket, I wouldn’t have had to guess.

And the process of adding items to your Library is actually quite an enjoyable experience (as long as you’re just scanning). I had completely forgotten about numerous movies and games in my collection, and it’s likely I’ll be watching and playing some of those again soon.

I got a chance to talk with Wil Shipley about DL and he mentioned that several things were in the works. There are a few apps coming to the iPhone that will integrate with the desktop application. The obvious app is the one that will allow you to access your library from an iPhone, and I cannot wait for this app to become available. You’ll be able to carry your entire Library and interact with it. I’ve played with the app and it’s very nice. One of the other apps that will hopefully be coming out, code willing, attempts to replace the bluetooth scanner with the camera on the iPhone. There’s a story here, and I’ve just got to tell it.

While I was talking with Wil, we came on to the topic of the bluetooth scanners. Apparently, Wil hates selling the things. He doesn’t really want you to buy them, largely because Delicious Monster doesn’t make them. Huh? Well, you see, a problem with a scanner is not really a problem with Delicious Monster/Library, but a user might view it that way. Hopefully we’ll have that iPhone app soon that will use the iPhone to scan barcodes, just like the iSight, only wirelessly. Then everyone can be happy, even Wil (not that he’s not happy…he’s a happy guy).

Personally, I was hoping that these apps would be consolidated into one app. I have too many apps as it is on my iPhone, so having one DL app instead of two or three sounds great to me. I’m not sure if it’s a performance concern or a personal choice, but I really wish these were going to be part of the same app.

I’m not entirely sure on the details of the scanning app for the iPhone, but how great would it be if you could also use it to take pictures of your items. The whole point here is to scan your stuff that’s not close to your computer. So to me it makes perfect sense for you to scan or search for the product, and then immediately take a picture of it for your records. Then later, when you’re at your computer, you could enter in any more information that is required. In my idea, the picture wouldn’t necessarily need to be displayed as the product picture on your digital shelves, but it could be useful to store it for records.

Now, up to this point you might think that Delicious Library is absolutely wonderful and flawless. Well, it’s close. There are only a few problems that I have with it. First, the background detection of product pictures is less than optimal. Throw an iAnything at it and the white plastic against a white background will give you garbage almost every time. It’s not really the app’s fault, but it looks bad. And with an application that’s marketing its own beauty, that’s a problem. Thankfully, when I talked to Wil, he said that he’s working on allowing users to select the “polaroid” option (as seen in the Apparel section) for other sections like gadgets, toys, etc. I like this idea, and maybe it could even be improved. How about having a few picture frame-like options for your product pictures? That way they could still go on a shelf. Perhaps even make them customizable!

The only other problem here is that the digital collection looks better than my real collection. Now I need to spend time and money buying wooden book shelves and organizing my stuff so that my real life can stay consistent with my digital life. Or I could just hide it…say, under the bed.

If you have a sizable collection of movies, games, books, clothes or anything really, then this is a must have app for you. It becomes even more useful with it’s tracking features if you lend out your stuff. You’ll also have a record for taxes, which is useful. Just be sure to back it up elsewhere, like in the cloud. One way to do that is to use the webpage feature and make a website. Plus, this has the added benefit of making it even easier for you to push your totally ginormous collection of stuff in your friends’ faces.

Don’t believe me? Take Delicious Library 2 for a spin on your own machine. You can download the app and test it out for free before deciding to buy.

By the way…make sure you add at least one Star Wars movie to your Library…just trust me.