> Cloud computing profits are - and will remain - a joke compared to the $20 billion in net income they'll yield in just a few more years from what they're alre

> Cloud computing profits are - and will remain - a joke compared to the $20 billion in net income they'll yield in just a few more years from what they're already doing. I think the market for cloud computing is very, very large. Consider that it's a composite of "all server hardware vended or leased" and "a significant fraction of middleware and server software vended". Microsoft are in it because they follow their existing rivers of gold as they shift. Google are in it because they desperately need a second river of gold to allow them to survive unexpected collapses in advertising revenue.