This is really insignificant. Since you still need to get a cable package to be able to then get HBO I'll just keep using my set top box -- which is easier.
If a stand alone pay HBO app was created then THAT would be awesome. I'd gladly pay $20 or $25 a month for that alone and be done with all the crap cable channels I never watch.
I see no point to HBO. I already have a huge library of movies on a 3TB drive plus Netflix and AppleTV. When I want to watch a movie, I want to watch what I want to watch, not what HBO (or any other pay movie channel) feels like showing at that point in time (and HBO on demand is very limited in selection as well and not much better than a DVR function). I had HBO and SHOWTIME for awhile and never watched them (never anything on that I didn't either already own or didn't want to watch). I got rid of them and with the savings I could increase my high speed internet rate even further and just rent the few new movies worth watching (also seem to be getting smaller and smaller over time with most movies being crap these days).
Cable in general is also a waste of money for things you don't watch, but at least there is first run material that can be recorded with the DVR (and thus bypassing the endless array of god-awful commercials that seem to ever increase in length as shows get shorter and shorter).
Ideally, I'd like to be able to just "rent" TV Shows I actually want to watch from major Networks. Having to "buy" them is pointless since I don't watch most TV Shows more than once, especially reality based ones. AppleTV Gen 2 had this function when it first came out for half the price of buying, but they got rid of it and watch more than a few shows and buying them isn't such a great deal so cable is still here.
Shows SHOULD be ala carte, though because you shouldn't have to pay for what you don't watch. And if you miss something, you should be able to go back and watch it on demand (not always possible and usually a week or more delay from the live broadcast). The system is still fubar, IMO. It reminds me of the situation with music before iTunes made downloads legit. The industry REFUSES to do what the public wants so the public increasingly ignores the industry and does it anyway. This hurts the industry, but the industry won't budge until it's literally forced to do so. It's a very chicken/egg situation. We have solutions for rental movies online; I don't see why TV Shows should be handled any differently. Let me pay for what I watch and not subsidize everyone else's show at my expense. That doesn't mean I want to BUY the TV Shows. I just want to see them once (i.e. RENT). Then I could ditch Cable altogether since I don't watch nearly enough to justify the expense, IMO.