Quote:
Originally Posted by GregS
The problem is, as has already been seen in HTML, CSS1 & 2, is that different implementations interpret differently, so unless there is a fundamental agreement on using the same code base everywhere, it is condemned to being an unreliable ideal.
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You seem to be saying that the problem here is that different devices display the same CSS differently. I don't believe that is the real problem here, the real problem is that designers expect the same kind of control of layout and presentation that they have traditionally wielded over printed materials.
I think designers need to loosen the reigns a bit, when it comes to reflowable text displayed on a vast range of devices (each with displays of differing sizes and aspect ratios) it's simply not possible to have fine grained control of appearance. Nor is it necessarily right that they should expect it - as the reader should I not have a say in how the information is presented to me? That wasn't even an option with print books so it was never an issue for the consumer, times change though.
Most of the decisions on how to render content should be made by the device instead of the book creator, and devices should succeed or fail according to how well they make those decisions. The presentation abilities of an eReading device should be as much a feature as how many books it can hold or the physical size of the screen. As consumers we should be looking at which device renders our content best - a weak hyphenation algorithm should draw as much criticism as poor reliability or bad ergonomics.