Ben Ramsey has posted a few thoughts on AJAX over on his blog today:

I was recently asked about my thoughts on Ajax, and I thought my response would make for a good, though-provoking post.

Ajax strikes me as one of those fads that pops up from time to time. The difference here is that we've had the technologies to use what is now known as Ajax for years—it's just that now it has a snazzy name and some people are doing very cool things with it (i.e. Google Maps). The other difference is that Internet accessibility has vastly improved: browsers today are more standards-compliant and have greater support of Javascript/DHTML and XML; more people are connected via broadband connections than ever before. So, we can no longer say that people on dial-up or people using old browsers are holding us back from making use of this technology.

Hmm... I think I've just convinced myself that it's here to stay.

He notes that, while AJAX has really been around for years now (XMLHttpRequest, after all), Adaptive Path has coined a new term and made a frenzy about it all in a few short months. He also lists a few resources where you can find out some great info about AJAX...