If you have examples of more specific questions, I'm glad to hear them. I would accept either of your answers, btw. Answers I have seen include "It is always SQL" and "make it ajax--ajax is fast."
The purpose is just to verify that they can put some ideas into writing, have a mental framework for debugging in place, and can verbally demonstrate any sort of familiarity with the technologies involved. It isn't a gotcha-type question that expects a specific answer.
edit: That said, your feedback is good and I will amend it to give more of an idea of how long a response is desirable.
