[bgramer]

They aren't directly forcing the hand of cable tv companies, which is quite clever, imho.

We, the Developers will be tasked to do that with our content and that starts whenever they introduce APIs, likely to be this year's WWDC. Once we've built out Apps in the AppleTV app ecosystem, the consumer demand will follow.

The TV Channel/Show/Content is now an on-demand App. This will all coalesce slowly as people continue to unplug and switch over via internet as content is made available. I don't want to make any predictions about the AppleTV box vs iPanel but my guess is that both will coexist - with AppleTV box offering the best UX within its bubble while the iPanel will offer a more integrated comprehensive experience. Both utilize the same App ecosystem.

Apple has been laying the foundation for a while. Download the iOS remote control, play with any of the AirPlay functions, the regular tweaks to AppleTV's OS, etc... It's all right under our noses.

[MatthewPhillips]

Who are "we the developers" in this scenario? This has already been played out on other platforms. Vimeo, Revision3, etc. will jump at the chance of reaching AppleTV devices but CBS, ESPN, AMC, etc. will not.

[bgramer]

Your background is primarily in Chrome and Android - are you sure your reply to my post isn't biased?

I use that term to include anyone who develops for the iOS platform and wants to develop an App for AppleTV. Feel free to take yourself out of that.

How do you know that Apple hasn't created new parterships for their upcoming efforts? Do you have AppleTV? Have you noticed a slow growth in subscribing to new content? You can even purchase it In-App if you'd like.

There's many different potential ways to challenge the incumbent Cable TV business model. Don't assume that top-tier content producers are not interested. By the looks of what I'm seeing on AppleTV today, they are slowly coming on board.