Chapter 1. Quick Introduction to RWD
Background
Mobile took the web by surprise. The fast growth of cellular devices (and subsequently feature phones) was impressive by itself, only to be compounded by subsequent disruptions such as the launch of the iPhone, the rapid and diverse growth of Android, and the emergence of tablets, led by the iPad. And the next wave of devices is already well on its way, with voice-based systems, smart watches, connected eyeglasses, and even connected mirrors and fridges.
As is often the case, many organizations initially chose to outsource the handling of this brave new world. Building in-house knowledge and technology is hard and time-consuming, and nobody knew for sure whether mobile devices were just a fad, or whether some new revolution would take over before the current one settled down. Even organizations that kept mobile internal usually created separate teams to handle it, separating this risky new turf from the more stable, revenue-generating desktop business.
For the mobile web, this separation manifested as separate mobile sites, known as mdot (or m.) sites. Organizationally, this separation was a good way to let independent teams work effectively. Technically, a separate mobile website was easier to tune for mobile displays and capabilities. Lastly, for many organizations, “mobile strategy” included both mobile web and native mobile apps, and mdot sites were aligned more closely with apps than with the desktop sites.