Another One of These Cloud Computing Rants and You’ve Got Yourself a Stand-Up Routine, Larry
by John Paczkowski
Posted on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM PT
The passing of a year hasn’t much changed Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison’s opinion of cloud computing. Remarking on the industry’s sudden fascination with the concept at Oracle OpenWorld last September, Ellison reduced it to a thin sheen of windshield condensation.
“The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we’ve redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do,” Ellison said. “I can’t think of anything that isn’t cloud computing with all of these announcements….These people who are writing this crap are out there. They are insane. I mean it is the stupidest. Is it ‘Oh, I am going to access data on a server on the Internet.’ That is cloud computing?…Maybe I’m an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It’s complete gibberish. It’s insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?”
In conversation with former Sun (JAVA) CEO Ed Zander at a Churchill Club event a little over a year later, Ellison expanded on those remarks, suggesting that if the cloud is anything, it’s a cloud of BS.
Cloud’s water vapor….Cloud computing is not only the future of computing, it is the present and the entire past of computing.
…Salesforce.com has been around for a decade. And so has NetSuite…and people are saying, “Well, that’s cloud computing.” Google is cloud computing. Everyone is cloud computing….Everything is in the cloud now….It’s this nonsense.
…But it’s not water vapor. All it is is a computer attached to a network. What are you talking about? I mean, what do you think Google runs on?…Water vapor? It’s databases and operating systems and memory and microprocessors and the Internet!
…And the VCs, I love the VCs. [They ask their start-ups] “Oh…is that cloud?” [And the start-ups go] “Oh! Oh! Microsoft Word! Change ‘Internet’ to ‘cloud’! Mass change. Give it back to these nitwits on Sand Hill Road.”
…What do you mean by “cloud computing”?…All the cloud is is computers on a network.
Our industry is so bizarre. They just change a term and they think they’ve invented technology….You can’t just come up with a [slogan] like “Let’s call that ‘cloud.” [But] it sure beats innovation.”
Below, the full video. Ellison’s rant begins around the 45:54 mark.
Comments
Larry is an idiot.
Yes cloud computing is a buzz word but it is so much more than what he tries to dumb it down to. And he is not funny, rather he just looks like a fool.
The most ridiculous part of this is that without Oracle many SAAS/Cloud Computing would not exist. So in many ways he is putting down his own customers.
I am not sure what the context of this rant really was about, my assumption is that he is intimidated by competing software like Sales Force, regardless his statement that cloud computing is not innovative or doesn’t offer anything for innovation is completely wrong.
The biggest benefit of cloud computing is that applications and application settings are no longer tied to your computer, rather they can travel with you and can used from any computer (or device) with Internet access.
His rant shows how little he respects actual innovation, and how his ego is bigger than his own technology. A dangerous combination that will eventually catch up with him if he is not careful.
Posted by Christian Baptiste at October 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pmI won’t go quite so far as to call him an idiot.
I was pretty sure he was right when he pushed the “network appliance” (sorry, but terminology for this concept is all over the map) PC back in the late 90s.
Problem was the makers of these things were trying to recoup their product development costs on day one and the things, which were essentially PCs without a disk (or with a disk that was only used as a scratchpad) were too expensive and Microsoft, by doing deals with Citrix, ensured that the software side of it would be prohibitive too.
Predicting future events is a lot easier than predicting when they will occur and Ellison seems to be pretending that his former predictions have long ago come true.
Don’t forget a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Posted by Mac Beach at October 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 pmLarry is a funny man! Obviously he has an agenda and something up in his sleeves…
Posted by David Robins at October 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 pm