How is the "cloud" any different from the "net" (as in Net Computer, or NC), which he promoted so heavily in the mid nineties?
"That magic part would connect the Network Computer to the Net. There would only be rudimentary software and memory on the Network Computer. Most software and serious memory would be out there on the Net where it could be easily maintained. The system would run on Java and use Oracle databases. Microsoft software would be nowhere in sight."
I think that's the point he's trying to make. He's basically just saying "buzz words suck" and then riffing on the term Cloud Computing for a few minutes. It only seems contradictory because Techcrunch framed it as commentary on cloud computing rather than the silly joking around it's supposed to be.
In fact, Techcrunch actually misquotes him. The Techcrunch article opens with "According to Larry Ellison, it’s nonsense and water vapor" when in fact what Ellison says is "[The Cloud] is NOT water vapor" (the point he was making is that the cloud is just actual computers on the other side of a network not "a cloud" which is where water vapor comes in)
"That magic part would connect the Network Computer to the Net. There would only be rudimentary software and memory on the Network Computer. Most software and serious memory would be out there on the Net where it could be easily maintained. The system would run on Java and use Oracle databases. Microsoft software would be nowhere in sight."
http://www.mondaymemo.net/031103feature.htm