Speaking of the need for speed, it looks like you're going to be buying a new cable modem in the next 2 years. Comcast demonstrated a new system based on DOCSIS 3.0 that lets you download at speeds 25-times faster than today's cable modems. Using "channel bonding", a concept also employed in ISDN, the modem uses four TV signals instead of just one to transmit data over the network.
While I think this is great, and will leapfrog Fiber for a while, I think end-to-end Fiber is the ultimate solution. Probably won't keep me from shelling out another $150 in a few years to download Windows beta builds in 45 seconds.