I'd toss out a third explanation for nosql is its not really a language thing but a concept of normalized/denormalized thing. Historically databases got used a

I'd toss out a third explanation for nosql is its not really a language thing but a concept of normalized/denormalized thing. Historically databases got used a lot where the short term cost of normalization was low and the long term cost of denormalized data was extremely high, like accounting or bank records or medical records. The world has some data store applications in completely different environments, where the cost ratios are wildly different and the bandwidth load is extremely high. Like feeding the whole logging output of a webserver cluster into a DB for "data mining" or whatever. So minimum total cost in those weird new applications involves doing the opposite of what usually is remains correct in the older, still profitable applications. Inevitably resume stuffing being what it is, neophillia, you end up with people trying to pound square pegs into round holes to boost their resume, look cool, gain experience, or for the sheer joy of trying something new. There's also the rush of transgressive behavior, short term thinking, etc. So naturally you get the extreme over-reaction of people arguing that corporate financial records should be nosql or your bank balance or credit record should be based on nosql, etc.