Consumer level devices and software for scanning and looking up UPC numbers are springing up here and there, but are by no means in wide scale use. I started using Intelliscanner's combo scanner fob and cataloging software after picking it up at MacWorld last winter, and more recently tested the Mac only application Delicious Monster, which was in the shwag bag from the TED conference.
They both do a great job of scanning and cataloging subsets of consumer products. Both handle books, CDs and DVDs.
Intelliscan also tries to handle certain grocery items too, with it's Kitchen Companion module. It's fob scanner, an OEM from Symbol, stores 150 codes - more items than any typical consumer buys in one outing.
Delicious Monster uses the Mac's iSight to scan UPC's, and has a nice cataloging interface that allows for easy annotations.
The blurry snapshot on this post was taken w/ my Treo's 700p 1.3 Megapixel camera, which explains why "scanning" with it is not quite ready for prime time - I have not been able to get Treoware's app, Barcode/13 to correctly scan a UPC label.
It's surprising to me that the popularity of these products has not skyrocketed, but maybe that fact is a reflection of consumer attitudes, which do not place much value on organizing information about our purchases. What features are needed in these valuable consumer tools in order to make them more compelling?
Organizing information about our purchases confronts us with realizations of what our choices are, from many perspectives. Kinda scary! Do either of these software sets allow for running various tally reports by catagory?
Posted by: Nancy | June 30, 2007 at 11:40 AM