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Originally Posted by hacker
Seriously, there is absolutely zero difference between a "mobile" and a "desktop" webpage, if you design your site properly,
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In my experience (and I write web-based applications for a living, many of which run on handheld devices), this is completely false.
Handheld browsers often do not support all the features of the desktop browser. Case in point: the Pocket IE on Symbol devices happily ignores most STYLE= options.
Also, the customer expectations of each type of app is different. Customers don't want to (or in the case of where I work "can't") scroll around on the screen trying to read the information that they need. Since a mobile screen simply has less real estate than a desktop screen, that means that I can't just reformat the destop screen to put on the mobile screen - I have to change how the web functions, leaving off data from one screen and moving some data to others.
Another case: most handheld browsers either do not support multiple browser windows (or don't handle them well at all).
On the desktop, I can open multiple browser windows to allow the user to control what he wants to see. I don't have that option for the handheld - which means that I need to do a different
design.
Making an app (other than a simple data display) work for a handheld and a desktop is far more involved than just a style sheet. You can make one app work for both - if people don't mind your web using only 1/4 of their desktop screen.