Why can't an html text box exist on the same line as text or images?

Answer 1

A simple way to line them up how you want is use tables.
For example 3 columns with a 0 border so you can't see it, textbox in one, text in another, image in another. That way you can then alter top, centre, bottom and left, centre, right for each column.

Answer 2

It can: for the text box try
style="display: inline;"
...
or for the image try
style="float: right; margin-right: 1em;"
or
style="float: left; margin-left: 1em;"
...