I don't think there's anything wrong with simply using the same content under a different layout that is optimized for smaller screens/touch.
I also suspect that developers, such as myself, are looking at a site on several platforms and so automatically compare them, but when a user focuses on their phone it fills their perception.
Giving people bigger buttons, and text might seem nicer initially, but it's usually very aggravating when the scaling is locked and with the real site you can scale the text even bigger then the choice you made for the user. Plus many other issues with content relationships (text and images say), usability, etc.
If your designers are going to put as much effort into the mobile site layout as they did to the main site then maybe, but I have yet to see that happen.
I don't see desktop sites getting smaller, and I don't think they should get rid of hover-based navigation, so the solution could easily be a stripped-down version for touchscreen devices on slow networks. That doesn't require huge buttons, locked scaling, or high-end design and layout.