Adaptive vs. Responsive June 3rd, 2014

Web developers have their panties all up in a twist over this issue.  Here is the boiled-down comparison…

• Responsive: The distilled definition of a responsive web design is that it will fluidly change and respond to fit any screen or device size. Coined several years ago by Ethan Marcotte and first introduced in his A List Apart article, “Responsive Web Design” and later, his book, A Book Apart – Responsive Web Design.
• Adaptive: The condensed definition of an adaptive design is that it will change to fit a predetermined set of screen and device sizes. Coined by Aaron Gustafson, who wrote the book of the same title.

However, my opinion is they’re the same thing since it all boils down to having content views optimized for different screen sizes.  So what if one is fluid and one is a predetermined set?  Who gives a f***?  Can’t we all just get along and pull the sticks out of our a$$es, agreeing that we’re really all just trying to get the most mileage from a single set of code for our websites?  Geesh.