Yeah there are a lot of similarities between fixies and skateboards. Skateboarding has gone from very popular (the 70s) to not so popular (late 70s to early 80s) to very popular (mid to late 80s) to very not popular (early 90s) to popular again (late 90s to now). The thing is, is that when a sport becomes popular it brings alot of new people into it. The ones who like it for what it is will be around when it becomes not so popular. I don't think that fixies becoming popular is such a bad thing. I'll be the first to admit that if this hadn't happened I probably never would have even learned about them and given them a try, but I'm glad I did. That being said I've been skating for 19 or 20 years and will die a skater, and I imagine the same thing for riding fixed. The important thing is to have fun with it.
Oh yeah, and fixed gear is more like snowboarding because they're both extremely easy to pick up. Any schmuck can ride a bike or snowboard down a hill ; ). I ride my bike for transportation, not so much for tricks. When I want to do that I ride my bike to the skatepark.
But ultimately, who cares about any of this?