The internet relies on agreements and standards to work, especially web design. With the constant barrage of new devices and input types, there is the need for each design to follow these agreed upon practices, less our entire system fall apart. This is why it confuses designers when a device or browser seems to ignore those practices.
The iPad Mini is a huge problem for many designers. The device-width viewport tag is set to the same values as the original (and obviously larger) iPad, which means that every button, logo, and line of text, appears 40 percent smaller. To someone using the tablet, this means everything is tiny.
That’s not to say the iPad Mini is the only rule breaker out there, but it is the latest high profile case which makes us all have to reconsider how we do design. The writers from A List Apart have used the issue to try to understand just what the issue is, and why breaking the agreed upon practices could actually be good for designers.