The title annoys me, it suggests a mass extinction of server side code and the article describes an evolution to a more complex beast where existing traits are maintained and added to.
I really want to know what everyone thinks about this… I've been teaching myself RoR to catch up, and now I'm a bit worried I need to be learning node.js or backbone.js.
You're fine. Not every problems requires an AJAX answer. I like my back button, than you very much. Not every website is a web app.