Why are there so many steps just to watch a show?

[madoka]

This may be a stupid question and I've been doing something wrong, but I was wondering if I'm going through too many steps to watch a TV show on my ATV2. It seems this process can be streamlined more. Right now I have to:

1. Turn on my computer and start itunes
2. Turn on ATV2 and go under "Computers"
3. Click "itunes"
4. Scroll down to "TV shows" and click
5. Wait several seconds for it while it is "Loading "itunes""
6. Pick my show (which takes a while since it each season has an entry and I spend $4000-5,000 per year on itunes so there is a lot to wade through)
7. Pick my episode

Now I'm wondering if there is a way to eliminate any steps, especially #1.

With icloud I was really hoping that I could simply turn on ATV2 and it would play everything I own off the cloud, instead of going upstairs, waiting for my computer to turn on, then then running itunes.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Buckeyestar]

Every TV show I've ever purchased through iTunes show up in my Apple TV under purchased.

 

[jamin100]

1. Turn on my computer and start itunes

Now I'm wondering if there is a way to eliminate any steps, especially #1.

Leave your computer on.

Seriously, I have my imac set to turn itself on at 4pm every evening (when im home from work) and turn itself off at midnight.

Itunes is set to open at login.

simple and works very well

 

[mstrze]

I NEVER turn my Mac off. It sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity, but iTunes and iPhoto are running and I have it set to "wake on wireless" activity so when ATV needs it, it's ready.

There is no real reason to turn off a modern computer these days. A Mac in sleep mode barely uses any electricity.

 

[Buckeyestar]

I don't see why the OP needs the computer at all. All iTunes television show purchases are available for streaming on the Apple TV without any computer being used.

 

[26139]

Idea

You can use AirPlay to stream any iTunes file directly to AppleTV.

From your computer, iPad or iPhone.

Also, why do people turn their computers off?

 

[tbayrgs]

I spend $4000-5,000 per year on itunes so there is a lot to wade through

So no one else finds this element of the OP alarming? To each their own but there most certainly are cheaper ways to get your TV fix.

 

[MacDawg]

So no one else finds this element of the OP alarming? To each their own but there most certainly are cheaper ways to get your TV fix.

Find it alarming?
Not really
I'm not in the habit of critiquing the spending habits of others

 

[hafr]

So no one else finds this element of the OP alarming? To each their own but there most certainly are cheaper ways to get your TV fix.

In what way is it alarming? It's not even a film per day, it's more like two films every three days...

 

[jajohns8]

I completely agree that there are too many steps, in general, to get to movies or TV shows.

It was big mistake to revise the UI with a 'Computers' tab that you now have to select, and then go into Movies, TV Shows, etc.

The old ATV interface was better. It was easier to navigate to what you want to watch. Less clicks.

 

[newagemac]

Ever since the Apple TV was updated with iOS5, it works with iCloud and you have access to the TV show purchases you ever made from iTunes without using your computer.

All your past purchases download directly to the Apple TV over the internet. If yours aren't there, you should go into settings and check for an update.

 

[Darien Red Sox]

So no one else finds this element of the OP alarming? To each their own but there most certainly are cheaper ways to get your TV fix.

What is the average persons cable/sat bill? And how much time of one life is wasted watching the adds with cable/sat? How much dose one spend on video on demand from the cable co. a year? How much dose the average person spend on buying dvd/bluerays a year? If you add it up I bet that what the OP is spending on iTunes is not that much.

 

[JRoDDz]

For someone who has no problem spending 4 to 5 thousand bucks on iTunes content, why are you so concerned with saving a hundred bucks a year on electricity to keep your iMac turned on 24/7? Leave it on, step one eliminated.

 

[adbe]

why are you so concerned with saving a hundred bucks a year on electricity to keep your iMac turned on 24/7? Leave it on, step one eliminated.

With Wake On LAN, or Wake on Wireless as suggested above, it probably be much less even than that.

 

[hokiepokie07]

I NEVER turn my Mac off. It sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity, but iTunes and iPhoto are running and I have it set to "wake on wireless" activity so when ATV needs it, it's ready.

There is no real reason to turn off a modern computer these days. A Mac in sleep mode barely uses any electricity.

Maybe if it's a desktop, but I'm not leaving my laptop on 24/7. It will kill the battery for when I want to use it not on a charger.

 

[darster]

I NEVER turn my Mac off. It sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity, but iTunes and iPhoto are running and I have it set to "wake on wireless" activity so when ATV needs it, it's ready.

There is no real reason to turn off a modern computer these days. A Mac in sleep mode barely uses any electricity.

Unfortunately it only works properly with my iMac if I only have the screen go to sleep, not the actual computer. The minute the computer goes to sleep, it disappears from my ATV2 even with wake on wireless. It doesn't seem to wake correctly. With that said, no reason to have computer go to sleep, just have screen go to sleep.

 

[madoka]

All your past purchases download directly to the Apple TV over the internet. If yours aren't there, you should go into settings and check for an update.

Thanks. I found that this was my mistake. I bought a ATV2 when it first came out and found it lacking. So I put it in the closet and bought some more ATV1 160gb. With all the icloud stuff, I figured that I'd give the ATV2 another shot. I didn't realize that it was operating under the old OS and needed it to be updated. Thanks guys.

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For someone who has no problem spending 4 to 5 thousand bucks on iTunes content, why are you so concerned with saving a hundred bucks a year on electricity to keep your iMac turned on 24/7? Leave it on, step one eliminated.

I made a strategic mistake and put itunes on my main computer which happens to have suffer from SLI hotness. That computer is under my desk right beside my HP server. Between the heat generated from the two of them, it's a sauna down there. I've already had my SLI video cards crash several times due to heat buildup and would rather not have to replace $800 worth of video cards because I kept my computer on all day.

 

[fpnc]

About the only reason I would turn off a recent generation desktop Mac is to guard against power failures. Yes, you can use a UPS but that doesn't help much if the power goes off while you are away from home. I know that some UPS hardware allows unattended shutdowns in the case of power failure but I don't think many manufactures support such operations on the Mac.

In any case, for the last 5 years I've used a UPS with my desktop Mac and I think that there have been about a dozen times that the UPS "saved" me from a power failure while I was actively using the system. However, I still power down my Mac Pro whenever I leave home.

As for the ATV, yes, the second generation is a step back as far ease of access to your own content. I also use an old G4-based Mac mini as my iTunes server and if that crashes because of a power failure I don't worry too much since I have backups of all of my iTunes content (it sits on a surge protector but does not have a UPS).

If you're seriously into iTunes and the Apple TV then you really need a dedicated system to act as the iTunes host (buy a used Mac mini or MacBook, attach a BIG external drive and just call it a day -- it can also be used to stream content to your other iOS devices).

 

[tbayrgs]

What is the average persons cable/sat bill? And how much time of one life is wasted watching the adds with cable/sat? How much dose one spend on video on demand from the cable co. a year? How much dose the average person spend on buying dvd/bluerays a year? If you add it up I bet that what the OP is spending on iTunes is not that much.

What the OP spends is certainly not out of the realm of possibility but the same as the average amount a person spends--sorry but no way. In the US, the median household income is approximately $45-50K/yr. If you think the average family spends about 10% of their before tax income on content to watch on their TVs, you are sadly mistaken.

My monthly satellite bill is about $100--I'm guessing this is probably more than average but for argument's sakes, let's just assume it's average. This includes 3 HD DVRs so no time wasted during commercials. That would leave an extra $300 a month for everything else, or approximately 10-12 Blu-ray purchases, or 75-80 VoD purchases. Personally, I also spend $25/mo on Netflix and on average, buy 1-2 blu-rays a month--that puts our household at about $175/mo and between myself, my wife and 3 small kids, we consume a pretty significant amount of in home video.

Hey, the OP can spend his hard earned money anyway he likes. My point was that he can probably get the same content for a lot less.

 

[dXTC]

Unfortunately it only works properly with my iMac if I only have the screen go to sleep, not the actual computer. The minute the computer goes to sleep, it disappears from my ATV2 even with wake on wireless. It doesn't seem to wake correctly. With that said, no reason to have computer go to sleep, just have screen go to sleep.

The whole Wake iTunes on Wireless works only with an Apple router, apparently. For example, the Airport Extreme has a built-in Bonjour proxy that knows that certain network services, including iTunes Home Sharing, is running on a given Mac even if that Mac's asleep. I have this setup, and it works surprisingly well. If my tv sends a request for a song or video, that proxy wakes up my iMac and loads the library. Once an item is chosen, the Airport has the iMac stream all of that item to the tv's internal buffer as fast as it can, and then allows the iMac to go back to sleep.

 

[takeshi74]

So no one else finds this element of the OP alarming? To each their own but there most certainly are cheaper ways to get your TV fix.

No. It's not my money. Why should I be alarmed? Who are you to tell the OP how to spend his/her money -- especially without any consideration for other possible reasons that the OP may have for doing this?

 

[DrEnalg]

No. It's not my money. Why should I be alarmed? Who are you to tell the OP how to spend his/her money -- especially without any consideration for other possible reasons that the OP may have for doing this?

I think "alarming" is the wrong word. "Flabbergasting" more does it for me - but that's beside the point, I agree - it really is of no concern to me how other people spend their money.

For us, that kind of money spent TV and movies would bankrupt us, but we operate on razor-thin budgets in our household (e.g., daycare for kiddies, mortgage, student loans, etc.) and we get our needs served just fine via Netflix and ATV2 apps and the various addons in use on XBMC....

 

[sulliweb]

Well, if you're spending that much on iTunes anyways, there are cheap $300 nettops that you can get, have iTunes always running. You do all your purchasing and downloading on that machine, as I assume you have some sort of external HD or NAS. That PC is just a dedicated iTunes box. It won't pull much power, give off much heat, or make much noise.

I don't spend near what OP said, and I have one. It works like a dream for me.