Using Google Spreadsheets with Node.js and JavaScript can be a quicker and easier option for building prototypes or simple internal applications, especially when you don't need the full capabilities of a traditional database. To get started, create a service account and OAuth2 credentials from the Google API Console, then install the `google-spreadsheet` package and authenticate with your spreadsheet using a JSON file containing your client secret. Once authenticated, you can read data from your spreadsheet, insert new rows, update existing ones, and delete rows using various functions provided by the library, which opens up possibilities for building applications that use spreadsheets as persistence layers.