Some of them are great. Some of them do incomprehensible shit like loading text in chunks while scrolling, making it impossible to scroll to the end of an article without waiting 5-10 seconds for it to appear.
(This might be a result of my using a content blocker to block mobile ads, but the fact that it’s even possible infuriates me as a user. I mean, it’s text! Just show me the text!)
I agree with you 100% that responsive design isn’t there yet.
I'm in the "basic usually better" camp too, but this doesn't matter, as we're all in agreement here! We want to know whether we're on the "better" or "worse" version of the site, for whatever each of us mean by "better" or "worse".
I want to know I'm on a faster version of a website.
(Seriously, mbasic.facebook.com allows chat, whereas m.facebook.com reminds you to install the Facebook app.)
You're the second person recently to lament mobile sites on HN. I think they're great. Responsive isn't there yet.