I’ve been (badly) making websites since I was 14. In 1996, and indeed for most of the Web’s existence, makers of websites had to be very concerned about the average resolution of users’ screens. I felt safe stretching my sites to just under 800-pixels wide to avoid horizontal scroll bars on monitors in the late ‘90s. By the early ‘00s, it was safe to make websites just under 1024-pixels wide.
In 2013, however, it’s more complicated. Uber users run Thunderbolt displays stretching 2560 pixels. Those same users are also on Macbook Airs with just 1366 pixels. Or on iPhones, with a width of 640 pixels but which answer to media quieries for 320-pixel design.
Many things have changed in the past 10 years. Screen sizes and resolutions continue to change faster than manufacturers can manufacture and practically utilize in devices, and web developers can keep guessing sizes with.
We’re in the middle of a Resolution Revolution, and it doesn’t look like it will slow down anytime soon.
