Why would a barbarian wear Hide armor?
12 + Dex (max 2)
Versus Unarmored Defense of 10 + Dex + Con.
Let's say you're a Barbarian with Dex 2 and Con 0. Okay. Yeah. Sure. Makes sense to wear Hide... But you could wear Scale or Half Plate or whatever other Medium Armor that provides better protection.
No. Barbarians almost always have high Con. So, without armor, they're almost always going to have at least 12 AC even if their Dex is 0; usually 13 with Dex 0. So, right away, equal to or better than Hide.
As for boosting the AC. Sure. Why not? Everything else is out the window. Why not also include flying poodles in the game? Like in the movie UHF. "Today, we're going to teach poodles how to fly."
Hide is low on purpose, Ragnarok, and it's made for druids on purpose. That's D&D. Each class has it's quirks and limits to balance them. Give druids the ability to wear armor like scale and half plate and you make things like Hide worthless.
Am I gonna cry if they chuck Hide? Nope.