We need to learn how to trust the cloud and, with its tech-savvy and early adopter user base, Apple could show the world how to do so.

Yes, any genuine cloud service from Apple would probably be expensive. Yes, it would probably only work on Apple products--although Apple might adopt open standards, as it has in the past.

But that's not the point. We're not looking for Apple to create a service the world can use. We're looking for them to show how cloud computing can be done simply and intuitively.

Whatever the case, the fact that Apple appears to be shying away from a full cloud offering might be a sign that Apple management considers the cloud to be a fad, or simply unworthy of attention. I suspect that if Apple truly believed in the cloud as a working platform, it would have brought to market pioneering cloud offerings two or three years ago.

Then again, cloud computing tends to be linked with business and Apple is squarely a consumer technology company (it even ditched most of its server offerings recently). However, in the same way that the iPhone is working its way into business after proving a hit with consumers, Apple could make a consumer-oriented cloud offering that would work its way up the food chain to corporations.