• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 11, 2008

Will TV consumers abandon cable systems for Internet-capable TV sets? This all seems like a big jump; but remember, entertainment consumers saunter.

Cable operators used to fear that the satellite distributors would be their biggest threat. To a lesser extent, the immediate threat comes from phone companies-backed IPTV and IPTV-like programming services.

Now, for some cable customers there are too many programming choices that aren't used often enough, and high monthly prices -- $100 and more. All this has forced some angry people to consider options like leaving the traditional TV distribution system behind.

At the CES, many companies indicated they would like to take up the slack. SlingMedia talked up technology that would take content from the Internet and send it to any TV screen. Sony, Sharp and Panasonic are making televisions where you can directly plug in an Internet connection.

What does this sound like? A revolution? No, just some swirling and turning.

Cable operators aren't rolling their eyes. Instead they are beefing up set-top boxes. Some, like Comcast, are going high quality, saying it'll have 1,000 HD on-demand options soon. But just in case all this doesn't work, Comcast is starting up a broad-reaching entertainment Web site offering movies, TV shows, and other content -- covering all bases.

While high quality is desired, quantity seems to win the day at the moment, something the Internet has in abundance.

Right now a specific price/pleasure/useful factor exists. If a consumer is only watching nine of 600 cable channels, and there's a budget crunch in the household, out come the wire cutters. I haven't even mentioned a possible recession.

Now all those cash-crunched customers need to buy is that new $2,000 42-inch Internet-enabled Plasma screen .