Jon Markman, TheStreet:

The culprit is cost. The industry is riddled with bait-and-switch plans that start low and steadily ratchet higher in price with hidden fees. The experience is complicated by poor customer service.

Apple plans to offer a service similar to Amazon’s Channels. The idea is users can select the channels they want and pay a monthly fee. The company will bundle content from the likes of HBO, Showtime, AMC, CBS and others, plus throw in its shows as they come on stream.

It will be completely transparent, and backed by Apple customer service.

To me, this is the core of Apple’s advantage and potential to disrupt the cable TV business model. If Apple could offer internet service, cable would be toast. The lack of competition in that space, and the absolute dependency on cable for internet service is what makes this complicated.