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During the recent Macworld show, the most intriguing piece of iPod news wasn’t the introduction of the new iPod Mini—it was the announcement that Hewlett-Packard had inked a surprising alliance with Apple. The agreement between the two companies will soon result in HP-branded iPods and the inclusion of iTunes software on every HP machine. For those of us who have followed Apple’s moves since the 1997 return of Steve Jobs, the announcement was almost unthinkable; after all, Jobs was the one behind the decision to stop working with Mac clone manufacturers in the late 1990s and pursue a strict “Apple-only” strategy.

All in all, this is welcome news from a company that is usually labeled as insular and unable to compete in the larger computer market. It gives Apple an inroad into retail channels where it would have previously been shut out. As a bonus, it silences the naysayers who claimed that the explosion of new music services and WMA players (from Napster, Rhapsody, Dell, and the rest) would turn iPod and the iTunes store into also-rans.

Quite predictably, other competitors in the digital music market tried to play down the Apple-HP alliance, but ended up sounding like they needed some warm milk and a nap.

Microsoft’s David Fester claimed that the new deal would be bad for consumers. “Windows is about choice,” he said. “You can mix and match software and music player stuff. We believe you should have the same choice when it comes to music services.” A fair point, but it rings hollow when you realize that his spin on “choice” means “as long as everything is in Windows Media format”. Until Microsoft, Dell, and the other PC guys start offering AAC (the format used by Apple) compatibility on their media players and online stores, it’s hard for them to complain that the iPod doesn’t accept Windows Media files. Hey pot, is the kettle black?

Also, hearing a Microsoft guy claim that “Windows is about choice” is pretty funny. And it gets funnier the more you think about it. I guess those anti-trust suits didn’t happen, right?

Dell also weighed in with a critical comment about the Apple-HP deal, suggesting that “customers will want industry standard choices”. Of course, the “industry standard” means Windows Media and Dell’s own media player. This despite the fact that the iPod commands nearly 70% of the digital music player market and the iTunes store far-and-away outsells all of the competing services. It could be argued that Apple’s way IS the industry standard, and the HP deal will do much to solidify that.

And after such a series of blockbuster deals and marketing tie-ins (through HP, AOL, and Pepsi), you have to wonder—what will Jobs pull out of his sleeve next? Things are going to get interesting, that’s for sure.