Apple’s YouTube Announcement, while modest, has a great deal more leverage than some would believe, according to MultiChannel News on Thursday.

The move, from a technical standpoint, wasn’t that impressive. But from a strategic standpoint, it was audacious because it accelerates the agenda of Google, also an Apple partner, as a media giant.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs made it clear that the YouTube announcement is just one of many video packages that might become available with the Apple TV. "We’ve wanted to do this for a few years," Steve Jobs said during the demo. "It’s amazing the variety of what you can get."

Then Mr. Jobs took a swipe at the cable industry and referred to their OCAP software, an initiative that allows modern set top boxes to be more fuctional and have better GUIs.

"We want to be the DVD player for the Internet age," Jobs said, clearly trying to compare Apple’s technologies to more simple, winning technologies.

Not all went well, however, because some of the YouTube videos Mr. Jobs demonstrated were on the fuzzy side. Even Walt Mossberg wondered about the grainy, video quality.

However, technology problems can be solved, and the cable industry shouldn’t feel too smug. In another part of the discussion, Mr. Jobs suggested that HD content was coming soon from Apple.

The announcement served several purposes. It put the cable industry on notice. Apple is able to build infrastructure bit by bit. At some point, it becomes compelling. It also took a swipe at Microsoft, which has never been able to succeed with a living room media solution. As a result, industry executives are likely sitting up and taking notice, probably more concerned with what’s coming from Apple than what they have on the drawing board. That will open doors for Apple in the long run.