Containers, Poe, and Cellphones as E-readers

When hopping a train or bus, suiting up for a long road trip or just out and about, it can be fun to pull out your mobile and start reading one of the free e-books on your phone to kill time — but misspelled words and jumbled text can be frustrating, and take the enjoyment — instead of your breath — away from reading.

Shortly after returning from my trip to New York City and seeing the Edgar Allan Poe exhibit at The Morgan Library (which, as a fan of Poe's work , was a profound experience. Among some of the most memorable were viewing a piece of his casket on display upon entering the exhibit! And reading a fair manuscript copy of Annabel Lee) I searched for Poe's work on my phone, and downloaded a free copy of The Works of Edgar Allan Poe (which, upon browsing the title page and contents, was V.4 in a four volume set).
 
On a cold morning in January I awoke, as usual, before sunrise from my chambers to begin my journey to Toronto by train. As I offered my first steps into the darkness that waited beyond my front porch, the harvest moon waiting, beckoning from his home in the sky. The atmosphere was perfectly gloomy, and I couldn't resist reading Poe under these circumstances.

The train carried mostly commuters westbound toward the city, but my eyes were wide in the company of Poe's macabre tales. Here, I will relate the following reflections on phones as containers or e-readers, and the transference between books into digital objects.

While scrolling through the pages of Poe's tales on my phone, I frequently came examples of palimpsest and misspelled words that made it difficult for me as a reader to, at times, to make out the words in front of me.

Google Play Books has the option to read a book in 'flowing text' or 'original text.' Viewing the original text version is equivalent to reading a scanned .pdf copy with a small font that makes it difficult to read without zooming in. The go-to version of the text, 'flowing text' is an OCR'd version or transcription of the text, with a larger typesetting that makes it a little easier to read on your phone.

I noticed, however, on the opening passage from
The Sphinx (images below), simple place names such as "New York" in the 'original text' is spelled "New Yirk."  

New Yirk, 'flowing text.' 

New York, 'original text.'

The notion of 'flowing text' is funny, because it disrupts the flow of reading, and takes away from any important context the author may have intended at a certain moment in the story. I find it nagging to keep switching back and forth between 'original text' and 'flowing text' to decipher what the words mean, even though I'll admit it also makes reading Poe a little more humorous at times.

There is an option to 'read aloud,' and even the toneless robotic voice follows OCR's mistake, and recites the misspelled New York, "New Ye-erk" Is there anyone else out there experiencing the same difficulties?