Cable companies still have a direct pipe into our living room, as well as huge infrastructures and employee bases (Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner employ more than two hundred thousand people). Smarter usage-based billing and cloud-based updates will make their video content services more responsive and valuable. They also have the opportunity to become the operating system of connected homes. In a few years we could be using our former “cable company” to upgrade an alarm service, schedule a new refrigerator installation, or discover we have some loose shingles on our roof.
