CouchDB is an amazing product, but even more amazing is the story behind it, with Damien Katz selling his house and living off savings to build "something cool". I'm truly impressed by this idealistic approach that actually succeeded.
Damien's wife also deserves a lot of respect for having accepted to follow him in this adventure. I explained this story to my wife, and before I finished she said "no, you're not gonna do that" :-)