The biggest cable company is buying control of a big TV network and a big TV/movie studio to put their content on cable. A start-up black box that streams wi-fi signals to your TV is pushing new internet channels your way. Are these two ships passing, and who will hit an iceberg? California set top box maker Roku-a business set up by former Netflix execs, is going to stream internet channels like Blip.TV and Revision3 directly to your TV, just like they now stream Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Video on Demand.

MovieWithMe.com users should know we’re way ahead of the curve here. You can click you profile page and set Let’s Meet to show you other users all around the country of Roku, PlayStation, xBox, LG, Samsung and TiVo. Watch movies in your separate living rooms and chat about them together online. We’re pioneers at putting people together. After all, our motto is “A stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet.”

So it’s fascinating to sit on the sidelines of the biggest corporate cable acquisition of the decade and wonder who is crazy. We’re told by the New York Times that Brian Roberts, the do-no-wrong son of Comcast’s founder, is a visionary taking the family fortune to new heights of programming and profit. And yet, here is a bothersome contrary vision brought to you by a little black box from Saratoga, California. While Comcast is buying up legacy media companies, Roku has made deals with new media companies that operate out of garages, eat lunch at Taco Bell, but grind out some impressive talk shows and even more impressive traffic numbers.

How does this upstart entertainment get to your TV? If you live in a Comcast neighborhood, it gets to you through Mr. Roberts’ broadband pipes. He’s hoping you’ll watch NBC, Lifetime, Oxygen etc. on the cable tiers he charges you so much to receive. But what if you decide to pay him only for broadband access and watch all the Netflix streamed movies reviewed on MovieWithMe.com plus all the internet shows and sports you’ll get for the same price? We’re at time when all old assumptions about consumer behavior deserve to be challenged, including those of Comcast. Why buy the milk when the cow is (almost) free?