Apple is known to set industry standards, for example iTunes. I think what Apple has plans to do is change the entire cable industry by doing something similar to what is done with the iPhone and iPad, by creating the hardware with features installed in them and having each individual company sell them with a plan. Cable companies would be like wireless carriers, a monthly fee would be charged just as they do now but, instead of a cable box, the customer would purchase an entire tv, in this case an Apple retina television. It is done in the wireless industry, why not the cable industry? A customer could as well buy an Apple tv at major retailers just as they would if they were in the market for a television today. Major retailers offer the ability to purchase Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint phones and plans, like an iPhone or iPad. It would benefit cable providers greatly, expanding their market from being solely sold by them, to selling their services in a larger commercial market, the retail store. Cable boxes are unasthetically pleasing to the eye as well, wires hang down from a tv or are hidden. If the cable box is included in the television, only one remote, an Apple device could be used as well to replace the one provided by the cable provider. Apple TV is considered only a hobby, a full fledged retina quality television with cable incorporated into it would be EXACTLY what Apple is known to do, think different.
