Cutting the cord is still an outlier activity. You have to do too much searching, use too many specialized devices, and configure too many settings to get what you want. But as devices from Google, Apple, Roku and others make internet delivery indistinguishable from cable and satellite delivery, we’re going to wake up one morning and find cord-cutting has gone completely mainstream. And those devices are pretty much already here.

All the advantages enjoyed by subscription TV today are melting away. In five years, those advantages will have been eliminated entirely. In a decade, many of today’s constraints will seem laughable. The idea that you had to pay for 400 other channels just because you wanted to watch a single show will be akin to paying for internet access by the hour.

Xfinity, Time Warner and their cohorts aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. But while the cable company of tomorrow may provide the pipes, it’s certain that it won’t provide the plan. In short, subscription TV is already dead. The body just hasn’t quit twitching yet.

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