Where an Apple-centric media purchase and viewing system really starts to shine is for those with "reduced attention spans or busy lives" who should easily be able to buy content on one iTunes connected device, start to watch it on another, and when the invariable interrupt comes be able to continue viewing on another iTunes connected device. You select something from your iMac in your den, it starts downloading and you begin to view it on your AppleTV driven big-screen in the living room, but you don't finish it. Later you can pickup where you left of watching on you iPad in bed or using your iPhone on the morning BART trip into work. In a way, Apple is appropriating Microsoft's famous "3 screens and a cloud" approach, but is making money on the hardware, software AND content!
And, let's not forget, Google is an advertising company, not a hardware, software or content creator. GoogleTV will be a way for them to inject ads into content that doesn't already have them, additional ads into the content that already does , and the standard Google treatment of your search for media (i.e. tracking, parsing and targeting of your queries).
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