If you find the pizza-shaped dishes obtrusive, than cable is probably the way to go. DSS requires a single set-top converter for each TV in your house. Another big advantage of digital cable is that the signal can go both ways. If you hook your computer up to the fiber optic line, you can download from the Internet some 100 times faster than a regular modem. This will cost you an additional 30-odd bucks a month, however.
Cable service can be more reliable in the long run than satellite dishes.
Theoretically, satellites are at the whim of such natural occurrences as sunspots, thunderstorms and snowfall, and a Digital Broadcast Satellite signal can be lost temporarily. Such interruptions rarely take place more than once or twice a year, though, and typically last only a minute or so. Cable is, however, entirely at the whim of its engineers. On the whole, digital cable costs less to set up, requires less equipment and has less chance of becoming obsolete as technology changes. On the other hand, DSS offers a wider range of rare channels and sports packages and cost slightly less per month.