Near Birmingham in Britain, for instance, the cluster of car-industry service firms that grew up when that city was a force in the industry has become an important element in the development of Formula One and other specialist vehicle businesses.
Mr Gates, who has created his own small cluster in Washington, has been through several revolutions in the software industry, without losing his head in any.
Businesses are tired of hearing the tech industry squawk about whether this or that is a managed service or a faux cloud or a virtualized cumulonimbus cluster or a passing shower or black cloud of doom.