In a recent C|Net article on Blockbuster, we learn of a new idea the company has which at worst seems doomed, or at best, misguided and miscalculated.

Sometimes I think you simply have to ask teenagers whether or not something is going to work.

The idea is to put movie refilling stations inside of Blockbuster stores, so that you can bring in your Archos-brand media player and “fill it up.”

Why do I think this will fail?

• The entertainment people crave is already being offered via the convenience of devices in one’s own home, i.e., cell phones, DVR-devices, cable “on-demand,” and new digital devices, such as AppleTV.
• Is the Blockbuster Internet connection really faster than the 21mb one I have in my home?
• Is your fullest catalog available? Doesn’t seem so.
• How many Archos customers are out there?

Now, if they offer this in stores plus via the Internet to homes, well then, maybe there’s something to it. But they seem to be late players in this game, if that’s a strategy.

After reading Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail, it seems Blockbuster is doomed, as their stores, which are bleeding them money, cannot compete with online sellers/renters. So, this idea on the surface is intriguing because it says “Hey, there’s a reason to come to our stores!”

Let’s see, this is 2008. If in 2004 they offered this, hmm, I might have bitten. But it’s not, it’s 2008. And I cannot think of a compelling reason why I’d want to go to their store if a) online I can match price, quality, and selection, and b) I don’t have to drive or return anything.

Unlike many of my friends, I do not subscribe to Netflix. I simply don’t have that much time to watch so many movies. So, I do visit Blockbuster stores, maybe 7-9 times a year. But I’ve gone less thus far since buying an AppleTV and trying Comcast On-Demand. Not necessarily for the huge catalog (it still needs to grow), but because these devices offer movies plus other video content that otherwise takes my time.

I don’t blame them for trying, but… to echo the comments already appended to the article, the outlook is dim.

To follow up on the earlier font discussion:

What the Font? is a site where you can upload an sample and it predicts close matches of the font in your example.

I remember reading some time ago about a (almost obsessive) human need to catalog the world around us. Some catalogers go to library school, and many enjoy the science and art of putting things in their place. The rest of us live out in the library of nature, ever so curious from time to time, to put order to things we find… disorganized. I’m not talking about a home improvement show, I’m talking about applying some sort of system to a collection of things.

In steps the Macintosh-only application Delicious Library which promises to organize your supposed home library. Who saw this coming?

To be fair, this program has been out for a number of years; I have some friends that use it and live happier now knowing their DVD collection and books are all catalogued on the home computer.

But I’ve been holding out for version 2, which just went “live” last night. I look forward to downloading DL2 tonight and giving it a whirl.

But what I find curious is that this class of software–for more or less cataloging software–is marketed for the home user. It wasn’t that long ago that I remember my mother’s library became “automated,” whereby you would scan patron cards and check out and look up and do everything with a giant computer. Then I went to college, and their library was… automated. Well, now folks, you too at home can have an automated system to track your books, CDs, DVDs, and now more just like the library.

I’d love to say this software is demonstrating something bigger here–and maybe it is, but maybe not so much–that we today as a culture have our own sizable collections of stuff (i.e., books, DVDs, CDs, video games, etc.) that we could honestly qualify as having our own personal library of things.

I know for me, there’s no better library in the world for baroque music than the giant hard drive inside my computer. While I have a very modest collection of books and own fewer DVDs than fingers, there are times that I’d like to “see” what I own, and have a fair enough system that’s easy to use (not to mention visually appealing) so that I can loan out some of the items I own that still take on a physical appearance.

Delicious Library, it might be worth checking out.

Last week, I linked to some old Apple ads and brochures online. In particular, I was struck by the “What’s On Your Powerbook?” campaign.

So, what if we asked teachers, parents, and students what was on their computers? I think this might make for an interesting research angle. I’m thinking files and type of information, not necessarily applications.

It might tell us “what’s important” to us, it might tell us how we each use digital technology. Specifically, with teachers, I think it would make for an interesting discussion. Perhaps I’ll use it myself in our district Ning network we started this year, in the fall.

I think the ads were successful (in terms of being memorable), especially those (like above) that used famous personalities. It was almost a preview of Apple’s later Switch ads in our first decade of 2000, using folks like Will Farrel or Yo Yo Ma.

• Audio Recorder
• Aperture
• BBEdit
• Bryce
• Chicken of the VNC
• Final Cut Studio
• DeskLickr
• DockLibrary
• Enkoder
• Flip4Mac
• FotoMagico
• HyperDither
• InterMapper
• iShowU
• Logorrhea
• Macromedia Flash MX (does this still work?)
• MarsEdit
• OmniOutliner, Omni Graffle
• Pianoteq
• Punakea
• Quinn
• ScanSnap
• Scrivener
• Squeak
• SuperDuper!
• Transmit
• Twitterific
• Yep

Did you know you can print your own Monopoly money?