or laptop computer, for example, squeezes into a cell-phone-friendly vertical image, with navigation buttonslined up vertically instead of horizontally. And it offersyou swipe screens so you can navigate without a mouse.

Mashable, an Internet news blog, calls 2013 the year ofresponsive design.

“This is something you should probably get on the band-wagon with,” said Craig Lamb, co-owner ofEnvative, a computer programming firm onUniversity Avenue. “If you haven’t consideredit, you’re probably already behind.”

Lamb feels Rochester is running behind,evidenced by a recent “best of the web” con-test held locally where only one of the finalistshad a responsive website that allowed it beviewed easily on all devices.

While many companies recognize the needfor mobile versions of their websites, they of-ten create entirely separate mobile sites, orpresent apps that mobile users can use to ac-cess the appropriate site for their devices.

Democrat and Chronicle Sunday, May 5, 2013

Len LaCara Business Editor (585) 258-2416llacara@democratandchronicle.com

Len LaCara

Hermann Einstein gave his 6-year-old son, Albert, a compass that wouldunleash in the boy an insatiable curi-osity that would result in some of thegreatest scientific breakthroughs of the20th century.

Seven-year-old Steve Jobs helped hisfather put up a fence around their back-yard; the father meticulously instruct-ed his son on the importance of makingeven the parts of the fence thatwouldn’t be seen as beautiful as thosethat would.

That simple lesson stuck with himwhile creating one of the world’s great-est technology companies.

A young Ben Franklin, on his firsttransatlantic voyage in the mid-18thcentury, recorded water temperaturesdaily and performed other experi-ments. In time, these observations ledhim to document with great accuracythe Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf Stream, one

of his many discoveries and innova-tions that would shape the birth of theUnited States.

Last Tuesday, I attended a talk byWalter Isaacson, the noted biographerof Jobs, Einstein and Franklin. Isaacsonshared insights on each man. He de-scribed Jobs as complex, with unbri-dled passion to create a perpetual foun-tain of innovation, leading to difficultand petulant behavior. “Don’t be afraid.Yes, you can do it,” Jobs would say; hethen would stare down his subject whobelieved the request was impossible. Itworked most of the time.

Einstein’s successes are well docu-mented. Early in 1905, at the age of 26,Einstein submitted to a leading scien-tific journal his “Special Theory ofRelativity,” known to the world asE=mc2. On his deathbed in 1955, Ein-stein wrote mathematical proof equa-tions trying to determine his unifiedfield theory until he took his finalbreath.

Franklin’s contributions are oftenoverlooked and are particularly pre-scient today.

In addition to being a Founding Fa-ther, Franklin invented the Franklinstove, bifocals and the lightning rod. Hepatented none of these inventions, feel-ing a duty to make life easier for all, notjust those who could afford it.

He is also the father of the volunteerfire department, public libraries anddaylight saving time. He founded theUniversity of Pennsylvania, was our

first postmaster general, a politician,diplomat and the largest single contrib-utor to the churches and synagogues ofPhiladelphia.

Franklin understood the value informing volunteer associations arounda particular societal issue to tap intothe collaborative creativity of groups.

Isaacson rightly points out that itwas Franklin’s “balanced” approach tomatters that was possibly his greatestgift. Franklin understood that toachieve in anything, you must firstexperiment with many things.

Years ago, I read Franklin’sautobiography, which was publishedshortly after his death in 1790, and con-sider it one of the best books I’ve read.It should be in every businessperson’slibrary, and required reading for poli-ticians. Maybe we can recapture Frank-lin’s spirit of balance.

So let’s get to work.

Great minds offer lessons to live and work by

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY DANI CHERCHIO

If you’re a smartphone user, you know how frustratingit can be to access some websites.

There’s constant scrolling and panning as you try tofind navigation buttons that always seem to be outside ofthe vision field of your hand-held screen.

And then you have to zoom in — makingthose buttons even harder to find — to be ableto read the print on the site.

Or, perhaps you have an app that directsyou to a streamlined display where you can seeand navigate better. But you may not be able toaccess all the content you know the companyhas online.

The answer, according to a growing num-ber of technology mavens, is responsive de-sign.

That’s a term to describe website program-ming that automatically recognizes what sortof device is accessing it, and adjusts accord-ingly. A horizontal page designed for a desktop

Diana Louise CarterStaff writer

See DESIGN, Page 5E

GO DEEPER ON DIGITAL

To see an example of awebsite using respon-sive design, check outour golf guide atmedia.democratandchronicle.com/golfguideon your smartphoneand then on a tablet orPC.

Local companies turning to responsive designfor their desktop, tablet and smartphone sites