The current box-top peripheral known as the Apple TV is built as an addition to most people’s TV setups and wouldn’t work for a lot of households as the only television software and programming available. Dan’s post is a good look at how Apple could bring a TV to market that is for everyone, rather than just for geeks.
I’m with what Marco said in his Apple TV post yesterday: geeks like us don’t really “watch TV”. I’ve never had a cable TV subscription, and I probably never will.
I have an Apple TV, and I love it. It serves three purposes: playing music through our stereo, playing Netflix on occasion, renting iTunes movies on occasion. I only ever bust out the bunny ears if there is a football game on or something is especially news worthy. But as for the TV and Cable market: folks like Marco, you, and I are the exception, not the norm. Apple would need to do more than just put their Apple TV software into a TV set.