At the risk of sounding cultish: I would argue “the cloud” is a bit more than just renting someone else’s computer. Hosting companies existed long before the “cloud”.

The difference is the abstraction layer. I would define “the cloud” as a layer that abstracts away the physical infrastructure. (Which works until it doesn’t but that’s a longer comment.)

You can even apply “the cloud” to your very own fleet of computers with the right software.

Like I said in the original comment, it’s a specific solution to a specific problem. Whether it’s right for your system I have no idea.