I don't think it's unfair at all. Add split and ssh to the mix and now you're distributed. "Cloud-scale" just means "more hardware than we own" and seems to me

I don't think it's unfair at all. Add split and ssh to the mix and now you're distributed. "Cloud-scale" just means "more hardware than we own" and seems to me like a step backward in computing, to a time when you paid to time-share a relatively powerful machine. The main appeal of cloud computing is outsourcing the ownership of the machines and responsibilities like configuring, storing, powering, and repairing them. I am not saying there isn't a use for the cloud computing capacity or the benefits it offers... but I just think that the hype can be distilled down to "you don't have to take care of a bunch of servers" for the average business.