What's lacking at the moment is getting the online content to the TV... it's still a fairly convoluted process for an everyday user.
If you take my setup; as I've cut the cord eons ago; here's how I do it...
I have the video server hooked up with a BitTorrent client, SABnzdb+, and Miro.
I can access the video server with RDP and set it to download what I want to watch. When its done downloading it moves the files to a shared folder which I then access from the HTPC in the living room or my WDTV in the bedroom.
It took me a few months to set this up right in my house; to make it fairly intuitive if you're a somewhat competent linux user.
So far lots of TV easily accessible but most certainly not Grandma ready.
What will make it grandma ready is this:
You have one main box that accesses all TV shows, downloads them, plays them on your TV, stores them on an internal drive, and can share them with smaller satellite boxes that are elsewhere in the house; whom can also play them on the TVs they're attached to.
You're only limited by upgradeable storage space at that point. -- Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
What's needed is for Apple and Google to kiss and make-up, then get an improved Apple TV device connected to Google's FTTH as the content provider/delivery mechanism.
It'll scare the living shit out of the cable & telco's.
Content creators will love it because they will get $0.25/episode from the consumer - instead of having to split the $1.50/month that the cableco pays for an entire channel with all the other content creators on that channel.
Apple will love it because they'll get their 30% cut on iTunes.
Google will love it because it weakens the cableco/telco's who complain that Google is getting a 'free ride on their tubes'.
What's needed is for Apple and Google to kiss and make-up, then get an improved Apple TV device connected to Google's FTTH as the content provider/delivery mechanism.
Google's FTTH that will only be in one mid sized city?
That'll sure scare all the major players to death.
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