ByDon

Dear Friends,

Baseball season is almost upon us as spring training wraps up and the real games begin next week. The hopes for the Chicago Cubs have never been higher with a great line-up and pitching. Could this be our year? To help matters along, Apple and MLB announced this week that they have struck a multi-year deal to supply 12.9 inch iPad Pros with special STM team-logoed cases and a custom app called MLB Dugout. This app will help managers see performance statistics, check videos from games and analyze how pitchers and hitters are likely to perform against each other.

Baseball has become a game of statistics and until this deal laptops, iPads and iPhones were banned from dugouts. That ban is gone as iPad Pros will replace the notebooks and photographs in big binders. Each team’s data will be downloaded to the iPads before the games. I can see this really speeding up the research about how to play a certain batter or what kind of stuff a pitcher has. Cubs manager, Joe Maddon, is not so sure “This might sound nuts to you, bit it might slow down the process. If there’s that moment that permits time to look up something, it might be OK, but I think thats where the piece of paper has it all over the computer—in that moment.” Well, Joe you are a hell of a manager but I’ll put the iPad Pro up against your binder any day! Fortunately, MLB didn’t ban paper so Joe is all set.

I have talked many times about being a socially responsible business but this week we saw the power for good that businesses can use. While not yet successful in overturning the North Carolina law that legalizes discrimination against LGBT people, business pressure stopped a similar law in Georgia and the list of businesses lining up for repeal in NC is impressive. It was business that turned the tide when civil unions were first introduced in Vermont and it can be business again that dope-slaps some sense into these backwards legislatures, too.

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features the iPad mini 4 in Space Gray. This 64GB model features Wi-Fi and Cellular and comes with the AppleCare+ protection plan that increases the hardware warranty from 1 to 2 years, technical support from 90-days to 2-years and provides for accidental damage coverage. This is the latest iPad mini that features the Retina display. With 64GB of ram and cellular capability you will never be out of touch. Normally, this bundle is $730 but this week exclusively for Kibbles & Bytes readers you get the iPad mini 4 64GB Wi-Fi and Cellular with AppleCare+ for $50 off at $679.99!

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  • Grace has tired of riding the little Vespa scooter so we are selling it. I bought an almost antique Victory cruiser so we both have bikes down here. I am going to Jasper, GA to pick it up this weekend and riding it back through the back roads of Georgia. It should be a nice little break.

    I am going to miss Johnny Dread and the reggae show down here but I am sure Grace will be there. It is hard to believe that we are heading into March already. My granddaughter, Gracie, is a Feb 29 baby so she is celebrating her 4th birthday as a 12-year old. My other granddaughter, Khadija, was off this week visiting colleges in the Boston area. Sure makes me feel old. I remember announcing Khadija’s birth here in Kibbles with the line “just call me gramps” and they still do!

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily, Morgan & Hadley_

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Vermont is back in the freezer as April becomes the most frustrating month for the Green Mountains. The days are longer, there is sun but it is too early to work in the garden. The roads are muddy and while the black flies haven’t awoken yet, it is hard to stay in the house but challenging to go outside.

    The iPad Pro 9.7-inch model has arrived at our stores and the initial sales have been strong. While this new iPad, at first glance, looks like the old iPad, once people start using it, playing with the Apple Pencil and realizing the advancements of this latest iPad they are hooked. Size-wise, I think that it might be ideal. The iPad Pro 12-inch model is, well it is big. The iPad mini is good for reading or checking your email abut the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is just right.

    I am very pleased to introduce the latest member of the Small Dog Team, Amy Farnsworth, who joins us as our Marketing and Design manager. Amy has strong marketing and graphic design background from her work in Utah and has recently relocated to Vermont with her husband. She says “I am a graphic designer, daydreamer, dog lover, wife, sister, best friend, Netflix junky & secret dad joke lover.” I think she will fit in fine! Please join me in welcoming Amy!

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features the Apple Certified Refurbished MacBook Pro. This is not a stripped down MacBook Pro but a fully-configured unit ready for your toughest challenges. It features the 2.8 GHz i7 intel processor, 16GB of ram, a 1TB hard drive and the NVIDIA 750M graphics chip driving the awesome “15-inch Retina display.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002189 This Macbook Pro comes with the same 1-year warranty as new Macbook Pros but we are bundling it this week with Applecare that not only extends that 1-year warranty to 3-years but also extends your 90-days of free tech support from Apple to 3-years as well. “Kibbles & Bytes readers save $100 on this bundle at only $2925.98!”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002189

  • Sonos and Apple Music

    A little over a week ago things became official: Apple Music is now available to those who use “**Sonos.**”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=Sonos For some of us this wasn’t a huge announcement. I have been using the beta version now for several months and have been enjoying my Apple Music playlists as well as my own personal play lists on my iPhone. I have been a huge fan of Sonos for about two years and not being able to listen to Apple Music was my one complaint about the system, but not anymore!

    Apple Music isn’t the only great thing about Sonos either, did you know that you can also control your Sonos system from your computer? I admit, I didn’t realize this at first. With a huge focus on how easy the system is to set up and control from your iPad or iPhone, this is one feature that’s often overlooked. With a simple “App download”:http://www.sonos.com/controller-app on your computer, you can open up your entire (in most cases) music library for listening through your Sonos system. Another great feature of the Sonos App is the ability to set a sleep timer. If your someone who enjoys falling asleep to music, but prefers it doesn’t stay on all night this is a huge feature even if it is a bit hidden. The more info icon within the Sonos App hides a lot of features, including the sleep timer.