[Hitch]

Originally Posted by AoiHana

For sure I have only two kindle, maybe the others (non e-ink ?) behave differently ?

Different Kindles work differently, period and there are still Kindles in existence that can't display any kind of more-advanced formatting.

Okay, I'm convinced, I can feel you two's bitter resentment just fine !
I could try editing CSS, but you're saying even that won't be reliable ? I do not intend for people to read it on phone, that would need at least a Kindle Basic's screen size. If I do get this requirement, and learn some bit of css, would I get something okay-ish ?

It's not bitter resentment. It's the voices of experience. Between us, me and Quoth, we've made many thousands of eBooks. I mean, you say, for example, that you don't "intend" for people to read it on a phone, but you don't control that, so you can't simply ignore it and not address how those buyers will see the eBook.

Originally Posted by AoiHana

But if you say "no", I'll keep with character anchoring... sucks big, why the hell can't they make a better format !

And what would that be? Seriously? What would be 'better'? I mean, look at your image. How could that possibly lay out--a very small paragraph and a large vertically-oriented picture, so it would look "right" and how could you possibly make that work, no matter what font size the user chooses? What exactly is it that you are envisioning, in terms of "fixing" it?

It's not complicated to program it this way "if big enough layout is like this, otherwise put text and picture on separate pages" !

So, you're a programmer? What types of programs or apps or ?, do you write code for? I'm just trying to understand your frame of reference, when you say "it's not complicated," given that even Apple--which has the advantage of a tablet, not a dedicated eReader--doesn't have an eReading software that does that, not like you're thinking of. ??? Or, as far as I know, even Readium, which has the advantage of being browser-based and with the power of desktop computing, doesn't do...?

And, in that eReader, that is trying to execute that if/then--if not "enough room" put on a new "page," what's a page? How does the eReader "know" whether or not there's enough room? What's the calculation for it? Remember, the software itself doesn't really recognize a "page." Behind that screen is a long roll of digital toilet paper, that scrolls, behind the screen. It doesn't really know "pages." (Which is why, when you change font sizes, the entire damn book re-renders, to over-simplify it a bit.)

So, you want devices to have if/then/else, like media queries and you want it to work like a desktop computer, processing-power-wise, AND you expect the eReader companies to still make lightweight-enough devices that people want to use them?

I have numerous devices, including an iPad that I bought for testing, for eBooks, a while back. When I got the iPad, I thought, wow, yes, this is SOOOOO cool. But you know what? By the time I put an otterbox-like cover on it, to protect it, it was too fracking heavy to use as an eReader. I own a variety of Fires and eInks, Nooks, iPads, tablets, a Boox Note2, etc. And my favorite--the one I use, day-in and day-out, for my reading, is my Kindle Oasis. Nothing else even comes close. I can see clearly and it's lightweight enough where if I have a longer reading session--say, 2-3 hours, my wrists don't feel like I've been doing wrist curls with a 5-lb. weight, when I'm done with my novel or whatever.

ps: seems like the message didn't pass through... I was asking, if I did go the CSS route, considering I target only at least Kindle Basic's screen size, would I get something remotely reliable ?

What your screenshot displays is how it works. Alternatively, you could, if you're really unhappy with it, create two-cells tables and slap them in there, but the end result isn't significantly better.

I'm still curious, how you would envision this actually working? I mean, take the image you've posted here. What end result are you thinking would be acceptable to you, layout-wise? Do you have an image of the end result that you want?

Because even as someone who makes her living, doing this, I'm not sure that I really agree that the functionality is "broken." Sure, sometimes I wish I had some if/then/else functionality, mostly around specific devices and yes, some more control over some elements, based on the screen size and resolution would be nice. (Yes, yes, boys and girls, media-queries do exist, around h/w and all that, but they don't always work in the world of MOBI.) But given that this is a fungible, changeable environment, with completely different screensizes, aspect ratios, pixel density and that someone reading can rotate their device or phone to landscape...I mean, really, what do you see as a possible "fix"?

Hitch