[duncanwilcox]

NoSQL might be hype. Let's get specific. Cassandra eliminates the SQL database single point of failure and hard to replace masters via a lose sync, "eventually consistent" protocol.

Is there some startup offering a web service that doesn't need that?

And have you ever tried to deploy an SQL database capable of thousands of miles apart syncing?

Eventually consistent is quite a different model than ACID. If you accept that, and accept that you can't rely on networks to always be up, you'll live comfortably and cost effectively.

[rbanffy]

I wonder how long will it take for the simple "if you need ACID, go SQL, if you don't, you'll be fine with NoSQL" truth to sink in.

NoSQL databases have been in use since before I was born. Is anybody doing airline reservations on DB2?