Entries tagged 'delicious library'

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Books Are Delicious

The Monster has done it again… the tremendous independent Apple developer Delicious Monster, that is, who announced the release of the second version of their popular Delicious Library software.

When I first bought Delicious Library as part of the first MacHeist bundle some time ago, I never thought I’d actually find a use for a niche product that catalogs my media (books, DVDs, video games and music). The program’s easy-to-use interface and great eye candy, however, prompted me to scan my entire collection (via iSight) over a weekend, after which the program became useful at some surprising times.

When a friend wanted to borrow one of my books, I quickly added him as a “borrower” in the program and never forgot to reclaim the book. (I hope my father doesn’t realize the same thing with all of the DVDs I “borrow” every Christmas.) Given that my computer travels with me everywhere, I’ve also used the collection to look up and recommend books to others while I’m away from home.

Launching the program for the first time, I was amazed to see a window (left) that told me that the software may run slowly until I upgrade to OS X 10.5.3 — a version of Mac OS that is currently available only to developers. Why Delicious didn’t disable the warning I’m not sure (maybe Apple is late on delivering?), but it might have to do with the fact that there is evidently a large difference in the program’s performance due to some specialized graphics code available in 10.5.3. I’m hopeful; the software runs well, but certainly isn’t a speed demon right now.

For me, one of the biggest promises of this version was the ability to export my library to the Web and import my growing digital audio and video collection from iTunes. Despite having some difficulty getting the program to automatically upload the exported catalog via FTP, Delicious delivered on both counts. I can now keep a (relatively) current copy of my catalog online, allowing friends to browse and borrow easily. Delicious Library even creates an iPhone compatible version of the catalog’s HTML files.

That said, there are a few things I wish were easier:

• Ability to link to a specific catalog item - When I’m blogging about a book, video game or DVD, it’d be nice to link to the specific item, rather than the catalog’s general page.
• Automatic publishing of new books to catalog HTML pages - When I add a single book, it’d be great for the program to automatically upload it (with the image) to my FTP site, rather than forcing me to re-create and upload more than 160 pages (and more than 125 MB of images).
• Interactive comments and borrowing requests - Allowing those viewing my online catalog to comment on specific books (or the entire collection) and request to borrow a book directly from the site would be fantastic. The program doesn’t have to monitor these items regularly, a quick check (and update) whenever I start Delicious Library would be more than sufficient.

Regardless, Delicious Library 2 is a fun way to explore your media collection and a pretty good buy (particularly if you have DL1, which makes you eligible for a $20 upgrade price). Yummy.

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