---
title: "Behold! The Barcode Scanner"
date: 2025-01-27T10:00:00Z
url: https://kmcd.dev/posts/barcode-scanner/
tags: ["books","library","gadget"]
categories: ["article"]
---


I have a confession. I've become *that* person. I recently got my hands on the **[5100 Laser 1D Wireless Barcode Scanner](https://tera-digital.com/products/5100-laser-1d-wireless-barcode-scanner-wholesale)**, and I'm officially obsessed. My wife and I have started increasing our book collection, so keeping track of books that we have is starting to get a bit tedious. Spreadsheets, handwritten lists, trying to type in those ridiculously long [ISBNs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN)... it was annoying.

Enter the barcode scanner.

{{< figure src="barcodescanner.png" alt="My barcode scanner" height="800px" >}}

You may have a pre-conceived notion that you need tons of super custom software to operate a barcode scanner but this barcode scanner **acts just like a keyboard**. You plug in the little USB receiver, scan a barcode, and *BAM*, the numbers appear whenever your text cursor is. Absolutely no required vendor software or drivers needed.

## Why I love it

* **Fast:** No more painstakingly typing out ISBNs.
* **Accurate:** Typos are a thing of the past. The scanner captures the information perfectly every time as long as you hear it beep.
* **Spreadsheets:** This thing makes updating a spreadsheet of ISBNs an absolute breeze.
* **Organization:** I can finally keep track of which books I've loaned out, which ones I want to buy, and which ones are hiding in that stack in the corner.

Personally, I've been using [librarything.com](https://librarything.com) to track my budding book collection, but there are a few other alternatives like [libib.com](https://www.libib.com/), [CLZ](https://clz.com/) and [GoodReads](https://www.goodreads.com/). And I'm considering using this for more use-cases, like board games, electronics, etc.

What do you think? Was this a waste of money or do you think it's a good idea?