Guys, just read all 8 pages of this thread and I see lots of the same old stuff. But people like knightwrx keeps making THE key point which is then promptly dismissed as the "it'll be great" dreamers keep dreaming. Here's my try at it...
An Apple Television cannot be anything like Macs or iPods or iPhones. We can't look back and talk about how Apple revolutionized those markets and then take the leap that they can do the same for this one. Why? Because in every case, the key to the revolution was the marriage of hardware & software.
- We couldn't buy- say- a Dell or HP running OS X. And still can't.
- We couldn't buy- say- a Samsung, HTC, LG, Nokia, etc phone running iOS. And still can't
- We also can't run iOS on iPod-like or iPad-like hardware.
However, Apple has already isolated the software from the hardware in the TV space. It's called the

TV. That software does already run on all brands of TVs.
Imagine if Apple decided to openly license OS X and iOS to all brands of computer and portable devices makers. That would be the equivalent concept in those markets. If we could buy ANY computer with an endorsed version of OS X running on it, are we going to be as committed to only buy the hardware portion from Apple? If we could buy ANY smart phone or tablet design with an endorsed copy of iOS running on it, are we going to be as committed to only buy the hardware portion from Apple?
With iPhone 4S, there were many wanting a bigger screen, different form factor, etc. Some were clearly coveting some such hardware features long available in some Android phones. What if those very Android phones (hardware) could be purchased running an Apple-endorsed license of iOS?
The point is when the Apple software is mostly isolated from the Apple hardware, is it that hard to imagine that people would choose to maintain the full, rich, "magical" software experience on the hardware (not made by Apple that) they may already own?
That’s the problem with this. If there is a little set-top box that will fully deliver the software experience for about $99, an Apple-branded television will have to compete solely on hardware specs alone. If you strip out the software of OS X on a Mac or iOS on a iDevice, then the remaining hardware would have to be judged on it's own too. My iMac purchase made sense to me
because of OS X, not because of the hardware on it's own. My iDevice purchase made sense to me
because of iOS, not because of the hardware on it's own.
If the

TV continues to co-exist with an Apple-branded television set, it's hard to imagine enough people- beyond the "I'll buy anything with an Apple logo on it and pay any price Apple wants" crowd- being willing to pay the premium on hardware alone. Certainly, we are smart enough to realize that an Apple television is going to be made by LG or Samsung or Sharp or similar. Certainly, we are smart enough to realize that whoever supplies that panel is probably going to also release it in their own branded television where it will probably sell for about 35%-40% less than the Apple-branded model. Then, all you have to do is imagine an

TV in the equation to see that this would be very much like having iOS or OS X licenses available for anyones hardware.
Face time camera built in? Skype has been available on smart TVs for a couple of years now.
Siri built in? That's software. It can be in the

TV and/or

TV remote.
Unified, easy-to-use UI. That's software. It can be in the

TV to deliver the exact same experience on any (hardware) panel.
Every dreamer concept that revolves around software is easily covered with the little box- no big panel required. To me, that implies 2 things:
- This TV idea is just a rumor that keeps being recycled (and there are plenty of those associated with Apple)
- For it to fly, the
TV box would probably have to be killed off (so that the software was no longer available separate from the hardware)
Throw in the "razor-thin margins" vs. the Apple premium, the concept that people don't want to buy a new big screen TV every year or two, that there is little-to-no chance of some kind of subsidy model to allow part of the cost Apple demands to be paid by someone else, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, that for any such cable-bill-killer content plan (alacarte or not) to have to flow through broadband pipes almost always owned by the very same players that like the cable-bill revenues "as is" now... and I just don't see this making sense.
The key missing elements are companion rumors that would solve several related problems:
- how can Apple's content delivery solution bypass the well established middlemen who happen to be the ones who would feel great pain if Apple takes their cable customers?
- how does this work in markets beyond the U.S. as Apple buying one or several cable providers and/or Sprint would still be a U.S.-centric solution?
- why do the players who currently make lots of money with the systems in place now want to support a replacement system where individual consumers would pay out a fraction of the current cash flows (for al-a-carte) and potentially also not see commercials (which also pay for the content-creation side of things)?
- Etc.
You need about 6-7 related rumors ALSO flying to solve problems like those. A piece of hardware alone is NOT going to do the trick. Just content distribution alone is a biggie: if you are a Comcast and Apple attacks your bread & butter, are you really going to just let them take it? Through your own Internet pipes? Of course not. Even if Apple builds the perfect television(s) for everyone, these related issues are still fully in the way of almost all of the dreams shared in this thread.
The only way to certainly overcome all of the related issues is to make Apple's replacement more lucrative for all of the dependent parties. For example, if the replacement can yield more money than "as is" for the content creators and if the replacement can yield more money than "as is" for the Internet pipe toll masters, etc. However, as soon as we accept that that is THE way, guess who is paying the extra to deliver that "more money" for all involved?