[cryptoplot]

I would argue that in this case, the big change from 1.9 to 9.0 would catch your attention even more than the change in exponent.

But by the same login, I agree with you: .9eX and 9.0eY with |X - Y| = 1 may cause too much focus on what is a small difference.

Some hard choices were made. It is not perfect.