What’s the story with AJAX?

I first browsed the web in ’94
Back then browsers were very different. The web was a much smaller place. Google didn’t exist.
Eleven years later the web is an important part of people’s lives. You bank online, buy your books online, read the news online and maybe even find love online.
The technologies behind it all have moved on. Content has become more complex and our interactions with it have reached new levels.
AJAX is one of the more recent web buzzwords. You see it a lot in the tech world. It’s easy to think of it as yet another fad.
But what if it isn’t?
And what exactly is it anyway?
Jordan Frank’s article on xml.com tries to address both questions and makes the whole thing a lot clearer ( a picture can speak so much stronger than mere words)