Hi Greg
well, this actually isn't OLAP but another, sometimes related, yet distinct aggregation/transformation function.
So, while I see the point for wanting this feature, I don't agree that it is the single one important function to make SQL useful on DBs for OLAP style queries.
Of course it's handy to have it when dealing with name:value data designs - but there are options to still analyse those somewhat efficiently (even this design has its clear disadvantages).
-- Lars