Will web pages change or will the net?

pda's, hand held devices, different resolutions

[texasville]

As I struggle to educate myself in building pages, I realize that I have to run just to keep from falling way behind(I already am behind).
My question is this:
With the proliferation of hand held devices and new browsers to access the net there is going to have to be one of two routes taken. Web page builders will have to give up most of what they have now and convert to strictly css and yet to be developed methods to make their pages work across all browsers or have visitors suffer thru broken, unreadable pages.

With a large portion of the web being built with templates by people that really only have a vague idea of what they are doing, is this really feasable?

Is there a chance that the net could add a new dimension?. Would it be reality to develop a new net such as www.example.pda? Or some other dimension where users could find the identical site but in their resolution? Then individuals could still use templates or the knowledge they currently have to build their site to proper resolution.

I, currently still build for people using 800x600 but am trying to unlearn all my old thinking and teach myself to build for all resolutions. It ain't easy. And most of the non professionals are not going to have the time.

Is this whole post just stupid? Is there something I am missing here?

[StupidScript]

Interesting question, really.

Currently I usually let the content prescribe how far afield I'll get with the programming.

For example, if it's a full-on multimedia site, I tend to let the WAP and pocket-screen versions go, as those devices typically (until now) cannot process that type of data very well. If the client is aggressive about wanting to reach into all of those devices, I'll add some browser checking and redirect various types of users to stripped-down versions of the content, something along the lines of "Here's a little bit, but please go to example.com for the full experience."

If it's a site that's mostly text, small devices can easily handle that, so I make sure (a) there's a WAP version (stripped-down, still) and that (b) my code works well with pocket-screen devices in addition to normal web browsers. CSS is key, here, and browser detection allows me to swap in an appropriate style sheet for the requesting device.

Conversely, there are some features of the pocket-screen and WAP devices that work well in those contexts but would be less appropriate for the full-screen experience. Menus come to mind, along with some of the dynamic stuff like text crawls and like-device considerations like 'buddy lists' and such.

I think the keys to producing content for the ever-shrinking screen are to realize what devices the target demographic is using, what is valuable to those users, and to make sure it's accessible.

It seems that most adjustments can be made by analysing the visitor's gear and making sure there is an alternate available to them.