Websites going mobile friendly/desktop unfriedly

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So has anyone else noticed the trend of websites going to the "mobile friendly" style (bright white background, big text, huge banners at the top of pages, little menu drop down box, etc) regardless of what you are viewing them on?
I find it very hard to navigate and look at for long periods on a desktop/laptop.
My school website did it about 3 weeks ago, and I complained to them about it, their response, too bad, deal with it.
Was on Advance Auto's site today, and they have made the change too.
Have seen quite a few websites going this route as well.

It also really annoys me that everything is centered in the middle 1/3 of the screen, instead of using my entire screen.
Why do I have a HD monitor if I only need 1/3 of it?
Web design has gotten lazy and very standardized templates. Instead of sites being dynamic, they are dumbing them down to tablet/phone screens. There used to be mobile and desktop sites, with each working well on what you were viewing it on. Guess it is cheaper (and lazier) to just do a mobile site for everything.

Sorry for the rant.
 
Good thing I only use my iPad to browse the web, only crack out a real computer maybe once every month or two.
 
There is a fair amount of work that has to go into detecting the device and screen size per visitor AND creating almost entirely different layouts necessary for them. It is tempting sometimes, I guess, for web devs to minimize the number of things that have to be different from device to device; both from "extra work" and "interface consistency" standpoints.
 
Wasn't a huge fan but it's grown on me now. Having the same browsing experience on desktop and mobile means I know where I can click or tap to pull down a menu, type in a search word or find deals of the day whether I'm somewhere else or at home.

With websites being centered 1/3 center of the screen I find it all right while using a 4K monitor. If a website does not have to show too much info and keeping important buttons and links closer means less mouse travel for me.
 
It makes a lot of sense to design phone up for a public website. It is easier to tweak ito scale up vs scale down. It may be coming.
 
Originally Posted By: Kibitoshin
Wasn't a huge fan but it's grown on me now. Having the same browsing experience on desktop and mobile means I know where I can click or tap to pull down a menu,


This is not lost on the developers of applications and OS's, too. For some years developers of all sorts have been trying to homogenize the development of both the technology (coding, compiling) and the UX (User eXperience, or User Interface) so there is one codebase and one interface across all devices. That ain't easy!
 
I hate infinite scrolling sites. I hate finger-sized controls and menus that waste huge amounts of space. But Windows is such a security cluster-you-know-what, and people won't try Linux desktop, so Android phones and Apple tablets rule the user browser space, and the rest of us have to suffer along.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Hate mobile websites. Desktop versions have worked perfect even on my iPhone 3.


I agree,mobile websites SUCK. Ebay's is probably the worst. I always have to click "classic site" for it to be usable.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Good thing I only use my iPad to browse the web, only crack out a real computer maybe once every month or two.

I can't stand web browsing on my iPad or phone. I do it if I have to, but not my first choice.

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Hate mobile websites. Desktop versions have worked perfect even on my iPhone 3.


I agree,mobile websites SUCK. Ebay's is probably the worst. I always have to click "classic site" for it to be usable.


The problem is many of these sites no longer have a "classic" site, it is just one regardless of what you are viewing on.

Originally Posted By: Kibitoshin
...

With websites being centered 1/3 center of the screen I find it all right while using a 4K monitor. If a website does not have to show too much info and keeping important buttons and links closer means less mouse travel for me.

Some sites it is not bad, but on sites with lots of text (my school website), I am constantly scrolling due to both the large text and minimal use of my screen. Some online forums are also restricted to the center of the screen, they use the space on the sides for ads and such (thank goodness for adblocker).

Originally Posted By: HondaRULZ
You just get mad easy, that's all, it's a microcosm of society.

Never said I was mad, I am annoyed.
Taking something that worked fine and "improving it" to make it harder to navigate is not the right step.
 
Well, if it is anything like the school district I work for, they do it for as cheap as possible even if it impacts functionality.
 
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