Few would debate that Ajax is a major advancement in web development. One that has the potential to take even more applications off the desktop and into the browser. However, with this exciting new approach to web development, it is even more important than ever to refocus on the functionality and usability.
Even with special effects better than ever, today’s best films are still those with a great story. Similarly, the best web applications are those with the needed functionality and good usability, whether they employ Ajax or not. I’ve tried several Ajax powered web applications that are attempting to overtake popular web applications that haven’t implemented Ajax yet, but the benefits of Ajax do not always outweight the overall shortcomings.
A prime example of this is TurboDbAdmin which is a very immature project when compared to phpMyAdmin. Personally, I would much rather see an Ajax enabled phpMyAdmin than another shaky MySQL admin web application.