You may not be convinced yet, nor am I, but your strawman argument makes you look ... well a little silly.
Edit: OK, read the CouchDB introduction now. Did not know that the "views" are server side. I have a past as a Java developer, and I have actually come across the "select all, then compute in Java" pattern several times in the real world.
If, however, you make a (willfully) ignorant assertion, people jump at the chance to tell you just how wrong you are.
Not that I want to advocate this approach, but I understand why someone would use it if, in the end, it generates more useful information.
(I think this was discussed elsewhere on HN, with "troll, don't inquire" as a disappointingly effective means of getting information.)