The importance of a Future Friendly web experience

I've been hearing industry leaders push and push for "Future Friendly" websites and I absolutely believe they are right. That being said, I live in my own little world enough that I sometimes don't have a pulse on what other people are doing in "real life". I finally witnessed with my own eyes the logic behind the admonition of building "Future Friendly" websites.

Recently I went to a middle school band and orchestra performance. I sat up on the balcony on the first row, it's a good view of the stage. Just before the performance started I looked over the rail and noticed what people do while they wait. There were so many smart phones and tablets out that I'm pretty sure that collective glow was the source of ambient light. I started to watch what people were doing, some were showing photos to each other, another was playing Plants vs Zombies, a few were on Facebook, and others appeared to be reading.

The more I watched the waiting concert patrons the more this "Future Friendly" philosophy sunk in. This isn't just a marketing ploy, making a website usable on mobile devices or what ever device the future might hold really is important. You can see this because people in "real life" are using their devices and they are using them everywhere they have data or a wifi connection. Just look around at people standing in line, on the bus, or while waiting for their kid's concert to start.

So my two cents is: if you have the opportunity to have your website rebuilt/redesigned then make sure the task of future proofing it is at the top of the list.