Kibbles & Bytes Blog

The other day while driving to our South Burlington store I heard a news story about how technology affects us today, both positively and negatively. One of the topics, in particular, being discussed was the question of how technology can affect our focus and become an addiction. One side of the table felt very strongly that technology negatively affects us, while the other half felt technology was an asset. For me, technology is about balance and it is an incredibly powerful tool.

In my work life, having information and communication literally at my fingertips is invaluable. I am a huge fan of the iCloud drive and the utilization of iCloud keychain storage, These two features of the cloud I use literally every day and cannot envision at this point not utilizing these. Just the other day I was away from my computer and thanks to my access to our Apple service manual in my iCloud, I was able to quickly find the folder from my iPhone and pull up the answer to a question for our service department. I can be using my iPad at home and have access to just about everything I need as though I was at my computer in the office. I have used the collaboration feature within Pages to work on documents I needed assistance with from other co-workers. Even when I am away from my computer and phone, co-workers can quickly reach me via text or a call because of my Apple Watch. These are just a handful of features I use daily to be more efficient at my job no matter where I am. Because I am a busy mom and have a full work schedule, this kind of constant connectivity is essential in my getting through my day. Would I be this connected if I wasn’t in the line of work I am? Probably not. But can I disconnect when I’m not in the office? I can. I love reading and the iBooks app makes it convenient to read a book whether I’m on a lunch break or waiting in the doctor’s office. But nothing beats holding a book in my hand and a stroll through my favorite local bookstore to pick out my next book I can’t put down. I can go hours on the weekends without looking at my phone or checking the latest social media feeds. But without my phone and calendar reminders, I will be that mom who forgot one of my kids changed after school plans or miss a meeting at the office. I’ve tried to keep one of those pocket calendars, but those boxes are really tiny to write in! I could never keep all my appointments and schedule changes on one of those.

Smart Home technology is everywhere in my house. We have an Amazon Echo in our living room that controls the lamps in the room; we have the Eve product line from Elgato which measures inside and outside air temperatures and air quality, smart bulb adapters from Incipio and as soon as I have some downtime, I have some Lutron switches to install. My kids think it’s pretty awesome they can just say a command and lights turn on and off in our house. I’m also happy I can see from my iPhone or iPad if any unnecessary lights have been left on despite the kids saying they turned the lights off.

I have two kids, 11 and 6. My oldest, Anna, has a take it or leave it feeling when it comes to technology. Her school issues Chromebooks; she is very good about following the rules laid out by the school and she only uses it for her homework assignments, the same goes for our home computer. She will sometimes sit on the couch at night and play a game or two on her iPod Touch. Your more likely to find Anna up early in the morning secretly reading a book than grabbing for a device, and her new hobby at night is making bracelets. My youngest, Olivia, is a different story. If given the opportunity she will binge watch Youtube for Kids for hours and become hyperfocused on the device. She has been that kid who turns into a ball of tears when told she can not play a game on an iPad. Because of this, her iPad usage is closely monitored and it’s a special circumstance that allows her the privilege to use an iPad. Now when we come home instead of her telling us a story about some video she saw she comes to us with notebooks filled with her practicing her numbers, letters, and words. I have also set up parental controls on the kids iPads and the family Mac Mini because, well, kids are kids after all. Be it keeping them safe from the dangers of the internet, limiting their access, or just ensuring they don’t run wild in the App store, it’s a great safety net.

So is technology addictive? I’ve already sold myself and family out in this article for being deeply rooted in technology and openly admitted I clearly have a child who could easily be addicted to technology. But are we as a family addicted to technology? I guess my answer to this question is the jury is still out. We aren’t perfect. There will be days I’ll have to take away a device from one or both of my children, or have to deny a request for a computer game. But there will also be plenty of days we will all put down our devices, head outside or pick up a good book on a Sunday afternoon. I can’t say I’ll reduce my technology use at work; after all, this is my job. Perhaps I have a slightly askew perspective on technology and I will admit that. I’ll continue to be the person who jumps at the chance to test out a new Smart Home device or show another parent the peace of mind parental controls can provide. But, for me, as long as you can find the balance I feel technology is a means of making our everyday lives a little bit easier.

I am about to do my annual migration to Key West. I mean, I had to scrape ice off my car! Horrors! That is way scarier than moving your data from your old computer to a new Mac. It’s become even easier now that more and more people are becoming aware of Apple’s Migration Assistant.

It used to be that even with this tool, things would not be moved over exactly right but Apple has done a lot of work on Migration Assistant and it is a fantastic tool. However, I still recommend that you don’t wipe your old machine until you have checked to make sure you have all your passwords and important files. Open up your email, open photos, open your music library and make sure it is all okay on your new Mac before you delete everything on the old machine.

In spite of this, Migration Assistant is a great and useful tool. It can move your data from either a PC or a Mac to your new Mac. You use Migration Assistant to copy all of your documents, apps, user accounts, and settings to a new Mac from another computer. I will outline the process for Mac to Mac transfers and we will handle PC to Mac transfers in a future issue of Kibbles & Bytes.

Get Ready
*Install all available Apple software updates on both Mac computers. Install any updates for your third-party apps as well.

*Make sure that your old Mac is using OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.8 or later.

*Make sure that your old Mac has a computer name: Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Sharing and check the Computer Name field.

*Connect both computers to AC power.

Connecting to your Data

If you have been a good person you have backed your data up using Time Machine and that is by far the easiest and fastest way to migrate your data. Regardless, you will need to connect your old data to your new Mac.

*If both computers are using macOS Sierra or later, just make sure that they’re near each other and have Wi-Fi turned on. If either is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, connect them to the same network using Wi-Fi or Ethernet. You will be frustrated with the slow transfer of data using wireless so this is not ideal.

*Alternately, connect them using target disk mode and the appropriate cable or adapter. Then start up up your old computer in target disk mode. Faster but a bit cumbersome.

*Best, connect your new Mac to a Time Machine backup of your old Mac. Oh, you don’t have that Time Machine Backup? Here’s what you do before you start your data transfer. Drop everything and come to Small Dog Electronics in Vermont of Key West and get yourself a backup drive! Or order one up on smalldog.com. Drives are cheap these days and your data is priceless! Take the new drive and make a backup right now using Time Machine. There, you now have a backup and the easy way to transfer your data.

Migrate!

On your new Mac:

*Open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

*Click Continue.

*When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.

*Click Continue.

On your old Mac:
If you started your old Mac in target disk mode or are migrating from a Time Machine backup, you can skip these four steps. Didn’t I tell you a Time Machine backup was the way to go!

*Open Migration Assistant.

*Click Continue.

*When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer to another Mac.

*Click Continue.

Then going back to your new Mac:

*When asked to select a Mac, Time Machine backup, or another startup disk, click the appropriate icon.

*Click Continue. You might see a security code.

Back to your old Mac:

If you started your old Mac in target disk mode or are migrating from a Time Machine backup, skip these two steps. Score for Time Machine again!

*If you see a security code, make sure that it’s the same code as on your new Mac.

*Click Continue.

On your new Mac:

*You should see a list of backups organized by date and time. Choose the backup that you want to use.

*Click Continue

*Select the information to transfer.

*Click Continue to start the transfer. If you have a lot of content, the transfer might take several hours to finish. Get a cup of coffee, go out for a hike and just let Migration Assistant do its work.

Finish Migrating

This part is important. When Migration Assistant is finished and before you do anything with your old Mac you need to do two things. 1) Make a new backup – plug that drive you bought from Small Dog into your new Mac and do a Time Machine backup and 2) Use you’re new Mac.

What I mean by using it, is to verify that you can do everything you normally do. Sign onto those websites that ask for passwords. Open your email and send and receive. Open up Photos and make sure all those photos of your dog are still there (and send me one!) Once you have confidence in your new Mac, I suggest that you put your old Mac in a drawer for a week or so just to be absolutely sure.

When you are ready to give away or sell your Mac there are a few things you should do.

1) Sign out of iCloud
2) De-authorized your old Mac for iTunes
3) Sign out of Messages

Now you can use Disk Utility to erase and re-install a new OS so the old Mac is fresh and clean for its new owner!

Dear Friends,

Today’s commute was interesting. First off, I thought I was done scraping ice off my window but there I was scraping while Jezebel was sitting in the car barking at me. Luckily, the seat heater in my Chevy Volt doesn’t eat up too much juice so I still have plenty. So, I am driving along the Common Road here in Waitsfield and aside from the normal wildlife (Canada geese, turkeys, and deer) I drove around a corner and there was a Subaru stopped on the side of the road and a guy without a shirt on was doing tight-rope practicing on his tightrope rig in the 30 degree temps. His girlfriend was sitting across the road wrapped in a blanket watching.

We are making great progress in evaluating all the gear that we got in the liquidation bid that we won. Some are just brand new Macs and iPads with packaging that is dented or dirty, others have been used and we are running the complete suite of Apple diagnostics on those before they hit our price list. All in all, there are some great bargains here; if you are looking for a MacBook Pro, iMac or even a Mac Pro we have some killer deals. There are also a number of iPads, ranging from iPad minis all the way to some iPad Pros! We have a number of brand new Apple Watch bands, too!

We have finally received our initial shipments of the new Apple TV. We think these may be in short supply through the holidays so we have stocked up. If you are interested in one of these new Apple TVs you might want to consider ordering now. I am getting one for my house in Key West (and I think I have convinced Grace that I will need a 4K HDR TV to go along with my 4k Apple TV.)

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes Exclusive features the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. This unit has a powerful 2.8GHz i7 processor 16GB of ram, 256GB SSD drive and 2GB of video ram. I am bundling it with AppleCare+ and to make it a great home office set-up I am also bundling it with a BenQ PD2710QC 27 QHD Designer Monitor USB-C 2560 × 1440 – Black that includes a USB-C hub with ethernet, an Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Magic Mouse 2. This set-up would normally cost you $3509.95 if purchased separately. Kibbles & Bytes readers can get this awesome home office bundle for over $500 off at $2999.99!