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Comment by stcredzero | Hacker News Reader

I don't miss episodes. I'm also relatively unconcerned about MPAA stuff.

I bought Automatic after a 2 week trial. I have it downloading on 15 minute intervals from tvtorrents.com (from the UK, while I'm US), based on my "New Favorites" custom account RSS feed. I specify some words to match a show's title, get the format I want (match ".mp4") and exclude ones I don't. (Don't match "720p", don't match "mkv".) The torrents get downloaded to a directory, where Transmission automatically detects and starts downloading them.

The result: Shows appear in Air Video on my iPad, and I only press an entry in a list (Table View) to watch them. My "karma" (called gigacredits) on tvtorrents.com basically takes care of itself because I start downloading when a bunch of other people are also doing so.

That said, TVTorrents.com is a bit clunky. (Along the lines of "2003 called. Wants its Java app server and web design back.")

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That isn't what followshows is about though.

Really? This is a bit suspicious that I was downvoted, then.

The front page says, "Watch TV Shows in your Browser," and "Easily know when your shows are on next." Other headline-sized text on the front page basically reiterates those two points. That functionality is basically already served by the setup I describe. (TVTorrents + Automatic + Transmission + AirVideo.) I would rather watch TV on my iPad on the couch or on my bed than in front of the PC. I also get the "Know when the next show is" in just a few clicks.

If anything, my story points out a packaging issue, which may well be an opportunity. Only a programmer like me is going to stitch together the functionality of four apps to get the same effect. Let someone download a single tablet app, maybe download a "server" on their PC, and it all just works. There's issues doing this on the iPad, because of what Apple might or might not allow, especially with regards to torrents.

As it is, it looks like someone wanting to promote the site downvoted me to suppress competition. Not very cool, if that's the case.

Just FYI, I am not down voting you- Your comment was constructive to us and I never turn down free advice

While I'm not a fan of discussions about downvoting in HN comments, I did downvote him because I felt like blatantly admitting to downloading TV shows with no further comments on the site in question didn't really help the discussion at all.

In retrospect, perhaps the takeaway from the comment is that there's a certain category of potential user who will hear about the site, have a preconceived idea of what it might offer based on the name, and then look for that functionality.

> I did downvote him because I felt like blatantly admitting to downloading TV shows with no further comments on the site in question didn't really help the discussion at all.

Because, you know, comparative functionality of media is never of any use -- especially if it's to the "free/not-exactly-legal" part of the Internet.

You are a developer? Is jschuur another developer working with you?

I just found out about the site today. I thought about a site like this a while back, but wasn't able to build it myself, so I'm happy to see someone implement it in such an elegant interface.

Enough about me though. This thread is an opportunity for Dan and his co-creators to get feedback on what they've built.

jschuur is not involved with the site, no. I am one of the owners though, yes.

The site is about tracking the shows you watch and when there's new episodes, and providing links where you can legally stream or purchase episodes.

It looks to me like the people behind the site are attempting to create a legitimate web site that isn't limited to hiding their identities or living in another country, where it's easier to flaunt copyright laws.

Personally, I don't take issue one way or the other with people who provide automated tools to get their TV shows through alternate means, but the moment you do that, you limit options for the product you're trying to build, be it just for fun or even profit.

> isn't limited to hiding their identities or living in another country

Cause, you know, it's so hard to sign up for an account on a website in another country over the Internet. A good point you got there. Sounds nothing like FUD.

> provide automated tools to get their TV shows through alternate means, but the moment you do that, you limit options for the product you're trying to build

This is one area where there is a clear advantage to releasing on Android over iOS.

>> isn't limited to hiding their identities or living in another country

> Cause, you know, it's so hard to sign up for an account on a website in another country over the Internet. A good point you got there. Sounds nothing like FUD.

Please don't do that. Your snark is not constructive, doesn't help the discussion and reduces the signal-to-noise ratio.

If you reread jschuur's sentence with the parts you left out of your quote you will see that he is referring to the owners of the site not having to live in another country. There have been a few cases of prosecuted owners and admins of similar sites in UK and US recently.

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