[ebiester]

Perhaps I misunderstand you. How would you implement the requirements above? How would you move to a detail screen and back in an HTML only solution that, most importantly, does not require rerunning the query each time?

And most importantly, you've now created two code paths, both of which need testing, both of which require maintenance, and one of which (in a web application) will never be used. What's the ROI?

Now, for some domains (say, e-commerce), progressive enhancement is the right way to go. I've done it. For web applications, which are the extension of client-server applications designed for a limited captive audience (employees), I don't see the ROI.