"software hipster" is an inaccurate characterization. Hipsters tend to choose something because it is simple and stylish rather than actually useful. As an example, they like fixed gear bikes.
Unfortunately, simple and stylish doesn't always win. I see lots of people riding fixed gear bikes in Seattle, for example. Actually, I don't see many people riding them, I see them walking them around because they have the wrong gearing for going up and down Seattle's many hills, and they can't actually ride them. In this case, simple and stylish is the wrong tool for the job -- they need a bike that can change gears. That may be inelegant, but it works really well.
CouchDB is the fixed gear bicycle of the database world.
Using a fixed gear bike in Seattle would be asinine, agreed. Within a relatively flat city, they make a lot of sense, however, and they're practically ideal for running short (< 3 mi, say) errands. They're mechanically simple and require practically no maintenance.
To push the analogy further, some of the buzz around couchDB reminds me of people obsessed with scaling (racing) without either any real understanding of algorithms (being in shape) or any chance of actually needing it (actually competing). That starts to sound more like a road cyclist with an expensive garage ornament, though... Fixed gear bikes are perhaps more like SQLite than couchDB, in that sense. They're actually really useful on a smaller scale.
I see where you're coming from on the hipster bit, just nitpicking.
Unfortunately, simple and stylish doesn't always win. I see lots of people riding fixed gear bikes in Seattle, for example. Actually, I don't see many people riding them, I see them walking them around because they have the wrong gearing for going up and down Seattle's many hills, and they can't actually ride them. In this case, simple and stylish is the wrong tool for the job -- they need a bike that can change gears. That may be inelegant, but it works really well.
CouchDB is the fixed gear bicycle of the database world.