Contributed by Eugene Liu | osViews This article was syndicated under osViews' Open Content License. January 13, 2005 3:47 PM

We woke up at 4:30am to get to the Moscone Center by 5:30am in order to be in line for the 6am opening. By the time we arrived at the center, there was already a very long line. And it was raining. After the doors opened, we waited another three hours inside, hoping our shoes and cloths would dry before sitting down to hear Steve Jobs' keynote speech.

It was well worth the lack of sleep and being drenched by the Bay Area rain. Yes, the usual software upgrades (iApps) were demonstrated. However, this year's MWSF keynote will be remembered as a historic one for the following reasons:

The high definition (HD) push. Apple again is leading the industry with innovative software that will make HD the darling of video to the professional and to the consumers. Years ago Apple put Airport wi-fi in its first generation iBook, and look at wi-fi now. Then the company came out with FireWire, and now it's the standard in high performance storage solutions. It's a pretty safe bet that if Jobs thinks HD and QuickTime 7 are the future, they will be widely adopted soon.

And do not overlook the fact that Mr. Kunitake Ando, president of Sony, shared the stage with Jobs during the HD presentation. Friendly competitors they are, but it's clear who is winning the battles. The Walkman is no longer synonymous with portable music, and hardly anyone knows Sony Connect is an online music store. If you can't fight them, join them (think HP).

The low cost Mac, finally. Priced at $499, the Mac mini is about the size of a lunchbox without a display or keyboard/mouse. Such a piece of Apple engineering for less than $500 – that's a steal. As Jobs notes, Windows users will run out of excuses not to switch. The Mac mini will make its way not only into homes, but schools and small- to medium-size businesses as well.

The new iPod Shuffle. Jobs famous “One more thing…” this year is a new member in the iPod family. Apple's iPod already dominates the high-end portable music player market, and now it wants a piece of the pie that Creative, Dell, and several others are sharing. The iPod Shuffle starts at $99 (512MB)-–and it sold out at the local Apple store in the end of the day. The iPod Shuffle, being a member of the highly successful and powerful iPod family, could drive some of these competitors out of business. Apple is now the Cupertino Giant of digital music.

Apple distinguishes itself by not standing still. When its competitors are still fixing bugs and trying to perfect its movie making software, iMovie moves ahead to support HD. When its competitors make MP3 players with strange sizes and shapes, it minimizes and simplifies the iPod into a white stick of wonder, and leverages its superior iTunes software. Once again, competitors are in a reactionary mode and have to play catch up.