It is a long time away, but unless you can get Xfinity X1 / Cox Contour 2, Tivo provided by your cable company, or some other advanced multi-room system, DirecTV still has the edge. Most cable providers are still using that blue i-guide that was released in 2001. Poster art? Ha, what's that? True color on demand screens? Never heard of it. HD GUI? Not in this lifetime.
As long as DirecTV has the content we want, at a price we can afford and the equipment works, I don't see a downgrade to cable. The only way I would consider that is if our Cable company issued Tivo T6 with mini clients as a rental option. The cost outlay is much to buy at retail and if the Cable company provides it, then on demand would be available.
Otherwise I don't see people leaving DirecTV if they can afford it, it works and has what they want to watch. I used to complain about cable's i-guide or directv's blue SD guide a few years ago and you would have some people that were like yeah your right, but then there's a lot that say, "what, do you watch the guide? I watch TV, why do you care about the guide?"
Let them take the time and perfect everything from the ground up.