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Last post Author Topic: Collectorz.com... again!  (Read 93341 times)

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #100 on: January 19, 2010, 02:47 PM »
I don’t know - their Book Collector 6 relies on Amazon exclusively, via their "own" database front of course. However if Amazon weren't used their book database would be worthless. (That is, worth even less than it is now.) All new books entered would get absolutely no search results. Alwin would have to either open up access to other databases or try to build his up substantially immediately. Anyone purchasing an app that can't get Internet results would be crying for refunds I would think.

Jim

PS - couldn't have happened to a more deserving developer IMO.

TucknDar

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #101 on: January 19, 2010, 03:21 PM »
It'll certainly be interesting to see what this does to the apps... Seems pretty unprofessional not to have noticed that point from the Amazon license before developing the apps, tbh.

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #102 on: January 19, 2010, 03:47 PM »
It'll certainly be interesting to see what this does to the apps... Seems pretty unprofessional not to have noticed that point from the Amazon license before developing the apps, tbh.


Dollar signs in the eyes tend to make it difficult to read T&Cs!

[attachimg=#1][/attachimg]

 ;D ;D ;D

Jim

Josh

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #103 on: January 19, 2010, 04:04 PM »
Perhaps something similar happened with other services which caused the move to a standalone db from the start? Perhaps IMDB or others complained in a similar fashion. Either way, I know Alwins eyes lit up like a child on christmas opening the new xbox 360 they wanted when he saw this message.

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #104 on: January 19, 2010, 04:15 PM »
Perhaps something similar happened with other services which caused the move to a standalone db from the start? Perhaps IMDB or others complained in a similar fashion. Either way, I know Alwins eyes lit up like a child on christmas opening the new xbox 360 they wanted when he saw this message.

Nope. Not the case. It was just a selective move on the developer's part, according to the developer.

Jim

Carol Haynes

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #105 on: January 19, 2010, 04:33 PM »
Isn't IMDB an Amazon thing anyway?

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #106 on: January 19, 2010, 04:41 PM »
Isn't IMDB an Amazon thing anyway?

Not that I had heard, but stuff happens fast anymore and it may very well be true at this point. I can't always keep up!  :)

Jim

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #107 on: January 19, 2010, 04:45 PM »
Then again:

[attachthumb=#1][/attachthumb]

So yes, Carol. Good call! Though Collectorz.com has never been big on IMDB, it was one of their available online search databases in Movie Collector 5.x. Not anymore of course.

Thanks!

Jim

MerleOne

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #108 on: January 20, 2010, 08:47 AM »
 I switched to Mediaman a while ago, that handles all (physical) media (books, DVD, CD, games, cartoons) in a very nice way.  If you want to change, just try it.  The barcode scanner that can be used with a simple Webcam is a plus when you have tons of media to index.
.merle1.

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #109 on: January 20, 2010, 10:51 PM »
I switched to Mediaman a while ago, that handles all (physical) media (books, DVD, CD, games, cartoons) in a very nice way.  If you want to change, just try it.  The barcode scanner that can be used with a simple Webcam is a plus when you have tons of media to index.

Interesting. Do you like Mediaman? Their website shows a pretty picture but is kinda light on detailed features. Does the program do online lookups for your media? I.e., you scan (or type) in some barcodes and the program searches online for the DVD/CD/books, etc.? If so, what databases are available to search? Does it offer a selection of online databases?

A lot of questions but I didn't see any of that listed on the Mediaman website. Also, can you add your own scanned DVD/CD/book covers if necessary? (I have some older books and even CD/DVDs where all cover images available online are different than mine).

I am definitely interested in a program that offers all collections under one roof, so to speak, however those I have looked at were not really very oriented to media collections; they looked more like if I simply created a large Access database and created reports in Access!

Thanks!

Jim

EDIT:  Forgot to mention... I once trialed an application that offered webcam barcode scanning and I was less than impressed with it. I much prefer to use a wireless scanner with some memory so I can go around and "collect" a lot of barcodes at once and then dump them into the program and let it do its magic.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2010, 10:54 PM by J-Mac »

MerleOne

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #110 on: January 21, 2010, 02:06 AM »
It relies on Amazon databases.  The webcam bar code scanner is working really well, but for just a few input, I prefer to type the barcode, it's quicker than installing my webcam.

You can very easily add your own scans (I prefer to look into google images and pick the one that suits me, when possible).

When you buy it, you get a license for 2 PCs (it requires online activation).  Manual data entry is sometimes a bit strange, but when you get past that, it's really very efficient.
.merle1.

vizacc

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #111 on: January 21, 2010, 02:54 AM »

speaking of lookups -

for those curious

you can buy 3.1 million-record music collection with all the artists, CDs, tracks, timings, discography information for a 5-figure sum.

with that, it could probably fulfill all those look-up queries.

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #112 on: January 21, 2010, 03:28 AM »

speaking of lookups -

for those curious

you can buy 3.1 million-record music collection with all the artists, CDs, tracks, timings, discography information for a 5-figure sum.

with that, it could probably fulfill all those look-up queries.


Uhh...   Huh?   :huh:

Jim

vizacc

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #113 on: January 21, 2010, 04:25 AM »
You guys were talking about Amazon, (whatever) database lookups.

I suggested, instead of relying on Amazon or whatever for their book/cd/music lookups, Collectorz would spend that money on getting a look-up database for themselves.

that way, it would satisfy all the look-up queries they had.


J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #114 on: January 21, 2010, 12:42 PM »
You guys were talking about Amazon, (whatever) database lookups.

I suggested, instead of relying on Amazon or whatever for their book/cd/music lookups, Collectorz would spend that money on getting a look-up database for themselves.

that way, it would satisfy all the look-up queries they had.



You really think that Collectorz will spend money on their database? Are you kidding me? Or are you serious? (Alwin.…. is THAT you?  ;D )

No, Collectorz.com wants you and I to build their database for them. And to pay for the pleasure of doing so. Don’t believe me? Go ask him.  8)

Jim

vizacc

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #115 on: January 21, 2010, 12:54 PM »

hi, I'm not Alvin, a year ago, my friends were discussing sharing costs to buy a CD/Movie database with all the details and such, but I backed-out due to huge costs (with this bad economy).

I'm not at privy to say who that person is, but I did see parts of the 50gigs database and the impressive music-store they had.

Relating back to the Collectorz, I saw a picture of Alvin's car, and I think he choose the car, X-box, etc instead of making his product better?  :tellme:

With all the sorts of complaints he gets, I wonder who buys his products?

J-Mac

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #116 on: January 21, 2010, 02:14 PM »
vizacc, I was kidding you with the "Alwin" thing!

How do they sell software? Same way as always, I guess. Their software isn't bad. But they used to have several online sources you could use. He changed that to only use their database, which is lacking. When this was first announced the database was severely lacking data and they asked for the paying customers to submit data and build the database. Plus now it appears they're is trying to convert the software to an online service. Just read this thread and do a search here and you'll see what kind of crap they have pulled in the past. Nothing new here - we all should know better by now.

Thank you.

Jim

progrocktv

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Re: Collectorz.com... again!
« Reply #117 on: March 07, 2010, 02:23 AM »
I've been searching for a good Movie Collector alternative, has anyone had any luck with Movienizer? Looks pretty cool and imports from Movie Collector databases pretty well:

http://www.movienizer.com/

Yea I've received some of Alwin's abuse as well (he even cut me down when I was DEFENDING him in a thread.) Whatever! Working with the software industry I've seen things similar to what Collectorz are doing to their software/attitude toward customers way too often and most of them either end up getting bought out or disappearing.