Originally Posted By: Dignan
When I tell someone "the cloud," it's a starting-off point. They understand that we're talking about data being stored on servers somewhere else on the web. *snip* I guess what I'm saying is: what's the big deal?

Ok, so you define cloud as "data being stored on servers somewhere else". Problem is, thats not the same definition I've heard elsewhere (for example from VMWare), so in using that term, your invoking a different definition in my mind then in yours. So it's actually complicated the conversation instead of adding clarity.

It's very similar to .Net back when Microsoft was throwing that term on everything. Was it a language, a server OS, an Office release, or what? Thankfully over time they backed off many of the uses of it to refine it to just meaning a set of APIs and technology that provide a more modern development environment. Windows Server .Net was renamed Server 2003, Office NGO/.Net also turned into just Office 2003 and so on.