Happy Birthday, Responsive Design!

I was reading a blog post recommended by a colleague which referenced the article in which Ethan Marcotte coined the term “responsive design,” and discovered that it was posted almost exactly two years ago (May 25, 2010). I’m not sure if technologies have an age rate akin to dogs (i.e. 7 years per 1 human year), but it feels right that RD is entering its terrible twos about now. It seems to be what everyone’s talking about, but there’s debate about exactly what IT is, how it should grow, or whether its use is really is appropriate at all in certain cases. We have entered the fray with our own responsive design guide.

The discussions, debate and pushing the practices to the limit may be painful, but much like dealing with a toddler who only knows the word “NO!”, time and effort will lead us to a more mature, stable and enjoyable state of being.