Weekly Tech News Recap | 02.01.13

Being a parent in the digital age is wild. I mean, I can take thousands of photos without even a thought of film processing costs, my toddler can watch videos of himself immediately after we shoot them, and virtually everything in existence can be found on the internet with just the click of a button — or swipe of a finger. (I am fascinated by what all of this instant access and feedback means for a developing kid’s brain, but I digress…)

However, the sheer volume of content can be daunting. What do I do with all of it? It’s a smart bet to take a lesson from the generations before and create a hard copy so that we (and future we’s) can enjoy it the old-fashioned way. (Because seriously, do we really think that USB as we know it is going to be around in 2043? We all know that DVDs have already started their descent from relevancy.)

But in the meantime, before I go printing every photo on my computer, I want to capture my rapidly-growing toddler’s experiences and organize the ones that mean the most. For that, there’s “*Notabli.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notabli-story-your-kids./id580644870?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30

“*Notabli,*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notabli-story-your-kids./id580644870?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30 just released on Monday, is an app designed for parents who want to capture their kids’ “notable moments.” As they put it: “Notabli is all about kids and their amazing stories, filtered through the lens of their parents.”

At first glance, the interface reminded me of a mashup between “*Tumblr*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/3352.png and “*Instagram,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/3351.png which speaks to its clean design and simple layout for its main categories: photos, videos, audio, quotes and text. Users can ‘favorite’ and comment on posts, enhance photos with built-in effects, upload videos, add audio, or a particularly special quote or piece of text with ease.

So what makes it different? For starters, the notion of privacy. Notabli is built around the concept that not all parents want to share private details of their childrens’ lives on Facebook or Twitter (though that’s not to say that they __can’t__ — Notabli includes exports for both networks, should you want to). Parents have total control over what others see — since the user who created the account is the only one who can give permission to view or comment on their child’s timeline, it creates a selective, customized, and ultimately, safe environment for their content.

Interestingly, the only part that has seemed awkward initially actually stems from the supreme privacy measures — we are almost conditioned to overshare in social media, so it feels a little odd not to have much activity or interaction in my timeline. So far, I’ve posted a few milestones, but I expect to add a lot more after my son’s birthday next week to further test sharing and invite controls.

Notabli isn’t the first app of its kind — “*23snaps*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/23snaps/id526481189?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30 and “*Everyme*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/everyme/id494728164?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30 do similar things — and it won’t be the last, but the concept and execution is exactly what I was looking for. It is a free public beta at the moment, though the developers have noted that they intend to introduce a premium version at some point in the future.

Bottom line: If you have kids and an iDevice, check it out. It’s the simplest way to record your child’s life so that you can get back to what matters most: making memories.

*Compatibility:* iOS 6+ on iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad.
*Cost:* Free while in beta. “*Download here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notabli-story-your-kids./id580644870?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30

__Full disclosure: Though I was looking for an app like this to try anyway, one of the best things about Notabli is that it was developed largely in Burlington, VT. Among the people the developers thanked? None other than friend and former Small Dogger, Ed Shepard! The opinions stated here are my own, and weren’t influenced by Ed in any way. At least he told me to say that.__

_Dear Friends,_

I got to miss the week of below 0 temperatures here in Vermont with a short break in Jamaica. It was great to have the down time and even better that I picked the right week to be in the sun by the sea. Quite the change to this week where it has been in the 50’s and rainy for the past few days.

I am not going into as much detail on Apple’s quarterly financials this time since I am a week late but I was pretty shocked that their common stock got clobbered so badly when the company posted a record revenue of $54.5 billion and profits in the three months of $13.1 billion. Those are fantastic results, especially considering that iMacs and iPad minis were in short supply. Apple sold nearly 50 million iPhones and a total of 75 million iOS devices! There are a whole bunch of companies that would gladly trade places for those numbers!

Apple also introduced a 128GB version of the iPad with Retina Display this week. The 64GB iPad was the largest capacity available and for only $100 more, you can now double that storage. With more and more people using iPads for video and media storage, there is a real place for this higher capacity model. I remain extraordinarily bullish on Apple as they also announced that their spending on R & D will hit $10 billion.

Rebecca and I are having a ball with our call-in show on WDEV radio each week at 1 PM eastern. If you have a Mac question, or a question about your iPhone, iPad or dog, give us a call (or just call to say hello!). We are on the air every Thursday from 1-2 PM. Call in toll-free at 877-291-TALK (8255).

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I am heading out to Cupertino for meetings with Apple next week, and Hapy will be joining me to give our annual account review to Apple execs. I’m leaving early on Thursday to fly back to Boston where Grace is picking me up and we are going to the Boston Celtics vs. LA Lakers as a treat for my birthday. Should be some fun!

Thank you so much for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Don, Kali, Stephanie & Mike_

Michael grew up in a place far, far away from Vermont. A little place called Santa Clarita. (That’s in Southern California.) Santa Clarita is famous for its Six Flags amusement park, Magic Mountain. Michael didn’t think that any of us “New Englanders” had ever heard of the town or the Mountain; I will admit, I _hadn’t_ heard of the town, but I have heard of Magic Mountain!

Apparently, both the town and the amusement park are both in movies and TV shows often so we’ve probably all seen it at one point onscreen. Santa Clarita is also home to a few studios and is where the not-quite-Bruckheimer producers and not-quite-Cruise actors live because it’s only 20 minutes from Hollywood (without traffic of course).

Michaels family consists of a cat (Clawdius, a 21 year old grumpy cat), dog (Wall*E, a loyal and intelligent dog) and a new baby! Michael and his wife recently had their first son, Julian Alexander, on October 30th, 2012. He, of course, is the light of their life. Michael and his wife both enjoy spending hours holding and playing with him.

When Michael is not working for the Apple Gods, he can be found taking care of his son Julian or taking photos. He is actually a great photographer! His time spent outside of Small Dog consists of building his photography business with an ultimate goal to one day support his family with his photography.

Michael also collects Blu-rays and movies in general, as well as the action figures of his favorite move characters. His collection of action figures has recently started to thin out though, and only a few of his favorites remain (side note: those can go for a lot on eBay!).

Michael hopes to one day own a small homestead with his wife where they grow their own vegetables and raise chickens. The plan would be for Michael’s wife to split her time between being his photography assistant and stay-at-home mom.

You can find Michael in our South Burlington location and he is a wealth of information when it comes to anything photo-related, so stop by and say hi!

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