Yes, it’s Flash and not AJAX, but this Visio-like Flash application demonstrates two things:

1. As AJAX is driving acceptance of desktop-like functionality in the browser, Flash is also benefiting from that same changing mindset. The same decisionmakers who used to wrinkle their nose at the mention of Flash are now weighing it as a legitimate option for providing RIA’s in the browser.
2. The march of desktop applications to the browser continues. This app is good enough for 90% of the network diagrams people produce. Why do I need a $200+ piece of software for that? The answer? I don’t.

My suspicion is that we will end up seeing a melding between Flash and AJAX, where most Rich Interaction Web Applications (RIWA) end up using both technologies. We’re already seeing this happening in small increments, whether it’s the use of Flash for cross domain cummunication or wrapping the Flash sound object to play mp3′s in your AJAX app.

Perhaps the best know example of a melding of AJAX and Flash is Google Analytics (the former Urchin), where many of the graphs are rendered in Flash.

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