One of the most important things a remote can do is allow you to fast-forward and rewind, which is why it's a shame the Apple TV remote has trouble with both.

The Variable Length Single Button Press

If you press the forward or backward button once, you will be taken back or forward anywhere from 1 to 63 seconds, depending on where you are in the playback. Apple TV will split your media into these little 63 second chunks, so if you're 62 seconds into one and you hit the back arrow, you'll go back 62 seconds. If you're 5 seconds in, the same click will send you back 5 seconds.

[note: the chunking isn't consistent from show to show. It jumped in 63 second chunks for me, but your results will vary]

Slightly Longer Single Button Press Mode

If you press and hold the button for a split second, you will go into an automatic mode that will go at about 1.5 times normal speed, either forward or backward. This is useful if you're only about 20 seconds away from the part you want to watch, but I find myself just waiting patiently rather than trying to fast-forward with the remote.

Even Longer Button Press Mode

If you hold the remote for another smidgen of time, the fast-forward or rewind process will go to its second-fastest speed, which is pretty good for scrubbing through sizable spaces of time. If you find that it is going too fast or slow, you can single-press left or right to go one step faster or slower.

Mach 3 Mode

The fastest fast-forward/rewind speed on the Apple TV remote is pretty speedy. I generally click to it by accident, curse when it goes too far, accidentally fall into the "Variable Length Single Button Press" mode that jumps me in 63 second chunks, continue cursing loudly, try to reverse in the other direction, which usually lands me in the slow rewind mode, curse some more, and finally set the remote down sullenly.

Your results may vary. How about it? Is the Apple TV remote too hard to use?