Quoted from accidental:I feel like it's in the hands of the mobile software makers to ensure their browsers are just as compatible as their desktop counterparts. It shouldn't be like the bad old days before web standards where web developers have to make concessions for the quirks of each browser and device. Android users know they're buying into the Wild West and should expect to have compatibility issues on the web just as they do with apps, services and updates. If you want to experience the fewest issues you need to buy the device(s) with the biggest critical mass.
Unfortunately it's not that simple. You see this a lot when you use the zooming feature in a browser. It's a particularly difficult problem for web designers as certain zoom levels usually destroy an otherwise well conceived layout. The issue with mobile browsers is an extension of this... they are small devices with fewer pixels than a desktop, and rely much more heavily on zooming than a desktop browser.
There is some truth to your "critical mass" statement, but all that means is that web designers typically do QA on the most popular browsers... and slacked off on the others. if we all stuck with "critical mass", we'd all be using IE on windows phones. IE was the king of the non-standard browsers until recently, forcing web designers to create two variations of a web site, one for IE, and another fully standards compliant version that works for every other browser in existence.
Also, last I checked, Android smart phones are outselling every other type of device, combined, and mobile devices in general are out-selling PCs, so lets not pretend Android devices are outliers compared to anything else.
Westminster, CO
