How else do you react to the news the Dell is most of the way down the road towards trademarking the term "cloud computing"?
The only question I have is "why?". What do they gain from this assault on one of the most explosive marketplaces to find its way into technology since the Internet itself? I see two options (though there are probably more--let me know what you think):
Dell thought at the time of the application they could create technology and a brand around "cloud computing", and they would own the mindshare around the term. They even applied for (and got) the cloudcomputing.com domain. Of course, this aspiration is naive at best, and if this is the case, at this point Dell should kill the application, build a kick-ass site for Dell's vision of cloud computing and call it a day.
They were simply trying to protect the cloudcomputing.com domain by blocking others from getting cloudcomputing.net, cloudcomputing.info, etc. If this is the case, the trademark application is too harsh, and they should use other legal means to protect the domain.
Update: I note that Dell has even displayed the trademark on the term "Cloud Computing Solutions" on their web site, as can be seen in the image below:
Update: Dell is apparently suggesting that the second reason I stated above (or a variation) is why they filed for the trademark. Kill the application, Dell, or make a public pledge that is stronger than "It is not our intention...".
