HP Offers 'That Cloud Thing Everyone Is Talking About'
The OnionCited 7× on HN, 2018–2026
comedy · general · evergreen · 2018–2026 on HN
A 2012 Onion News Network satire in which HP announces a push into cloud computing and insists it knows what the cloud is.
Used as a joke whenever companies chase tech buzzwords, from cloud to AI.
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7 comments from Hacker News
Don’t forget about cloud-something! Related: HP Offers 'That Cloud Thing Everyone Is Talking About’ ▶ this video
The Onion also made some pretty good cloud parodies back in 2012: ▶ this video Old animation though I wouldn't necessarily expect to only have been 10 years ago, and 10 years ago I wouldn't expect to be scolded for not using the cloud.
In case anyone hasn't seen the Onion video: ▶ this video HP Offers 'That Cloud Thing Everyone Is Talking About'
My cynical take is that we accidentally started a self-sustained frenzy. C-levels hear that AI is literal magic, and that you can't afford to miss that boat. Nobody wants to be caught not doing AI, so all the KPIs, OKRs and bonuses have AI tied to them. Everyone slaps AI on stuff as fast as they can, further accelerating the trend. The Onion had it right a while ago: ▶ this video
It was ever thus - remember when everything was about "The Cloud"? TheOnion satirical news report about HP adopting "That cloud thing that everyone is talking about" is still relevant 11 years later: ▶ this video
> HP executives were slow to grasp the huge shift toward cloud computing in the early 2010s. 2012 - ▶ this video We Have App This was bitterly funny when I worked for HP in 2012. --- No mention of "disruptive innovation" in these comments or the article. Interesting.
I'm very often reminded of this video when people use tech buzzwords a lot: "HP offers 'that cloud thing everyone is talking about'" ▶ this video