Apple TV

I get so frustrated sometimes!

Not about things that I can’t control, although those things can be frustrating as well, but the things that I should be able to do something about. A good example would be the gifts that I got for Christmas. I asked for and received a sleigh shovel. My dad had one, years ago and it makes moving snow a whole lot easier. It works just as I had expected it would and there have been no surprises since Christmas. I have been able to easily shift a large pile from here to there in a matter of minutes. I know I shouldn’t get this kind of joy from a snow shovel. Pathetic really.

The other gift I got was an Apple TV. Like all things Apple, you just need to plug it in and before you can say “Thanks Steve Jobs” you are streaming music and video from your computer to the TV. It is that simple! Well, it should be I suppose, and with the vast majority of Apple TV recipients this past Christmas, it probably was that easy. Not for me it wasn’t.

 

I plugged it in and got a response that I had to sign in to my computer with my Apple ID, which I dutifully did. I went back to the TV and found that I had to sign in to my computer with my Apple ID. I did this several times until I decided that it wasn’t working because I was tired and tomorrow with fresh, well rested eyes, I will have no problem getting it to work. That is the same rational that I use when I have a broken down car at the side of the highway and I open the hood, shaking all of the wires. It could help, it never has, but there is always a first time.

Days passed and no matter how many times I used my Apple ID, how many wires I jiggled, or how many Apple problem solving chat rooms I went to, nothing helped. We were hosting a few friends of Maegan’s that had dropped by for a holiday visit. I always enjoy seeing what wonderful people they have turned into, and was happy to sit and chat with them. Maegan suggested at one point that since I had Mike and Paul in my house, they should be able to help with the Apple TV problem. I was reluctant, but what the hell.

Mike has been a go to guy for difficult computer problems over the years and Paul, although new to the group is a pretty smart cookie. I was confident that I would be streaming music and video in short order. I think it was about an hour and a half later when they finally gave up because they had to leave. They tried everything and I am very grateful for the effort.

 

A couple of days passed and quite frankly, I was thinking of writing a letter to Santa to see if he would make a special trip down to Calgary and pick up this piece of shit Apple TV. Strangely enough, a day or so later, Maegan took me to the Apple store because she was buying an Apple TV. I like that she is an optimist, but the hidden message she was sending is that her friends and dad are technological idiots. I can live with that. While I was at the Apple store I asked a guy about my problem and he told me to call 1-800-MYAPPLE and they would be sure to help me.

The problem with calling these help lines is that you are admitting to yourself and the world that you can’t figure out how to do something that brilliant people worked very hard to make as easy as possible. So easy, that someone that knows nothing about computers can figure out. I was going to call them today!

I had to try one last thing. I unplugged my computer from the wireless router and hooked up a wireless USB adaptor. I looked at the Apple TV and there is big, beautiful letters was “KENS FILES” I selected music… playlist…Beatles at the BBC, and I heard music on the TV that was streaming from my computer. Wonderful!

It only took me eight days to do what should have taken eight seconds, but I’m pretty happy with the outcome.