"...if you think that switching to NoSQL will just let you hand-wave away all of the challenges of running a database, you are terribly misguided."

But it seems increasingly there is the effect (if not necessarily the conscious effort) to 'hand-wave away the DBA' -- by moving to cloud-based SaaS, and by consuming web services (rather than making direct database calls) within Ajax-type applications.

Without a doubt, competent DBAs will always be needed -- but the direct exposure developers have to them will likely decrease because of the evolution of application design and infrastructure.