Kindle experiment
The best way to test a piece of equipment is to use it. So I downloaded a copy of Miyamoto Musashi's Five Rings, a Japanese book on strategy and swordsmanship from the mid 17th century.
First, about the Kindle, I like reading it, but I am used to computer reading and I dont mind doing it. I occasionally get confused and try to go to the next page with the scroll bar rather than the "next page" button. The note taking facility is very nice, and the keyboard is acceptable for making small notes. The absence of a cursor key doesn't really become an issue until one notices a typo early on and has to press 80+ Alt-H keystrokes to get there and fix it.
All of the notes in all of the books are compiled into a little document called "My clippings"; the format is a bit difficult to read and my biggest beef is that there is no way to branch back from the clippings to the book itself.
Regarding Miyamoto's work itself, I was struck how dominated his thinking is by analogizing from the single-person duel to the larger clash between armies. Since his book is supposed to be an all-encompassing strategy and not just the strategy of swordsmanship, I understand why he does that. But the analogy breaks down, at the latest when discussing the mode of attack. It makes perfect sense in a sword duel to move in as quickly as possible and mow the opponent down before the enemy has much of a chance to strike; Miyamoto calls that "treading down". But translated to the larger setup, this means attacking while the enemy is still busy firing arrows and guns at one. That might be heroic, but since World War I trench warfare at least we know that this is simply silly.
More theoretically speaking, Miyamoto's strategy tacitly presumes a level of incompetence and deficiency in the missile weapons that does not flow from the larger philosophical picture. Miyamoto's strategy description is an accurate abstraction for 17th century Japanese weapons' technology; but it's very foundational conceptualization ["the way"!] eliminates the possibility of accommodating change of technology.
First, about the Kindle, I like reading it, but I am used to computer reading and I dont mind doing it. I occasionally get confused and try to go to the next page with the scroll bar rather than the "next page" button. The note taking facility is very nice, and the keyboard is acceptable for making small notes. The absence of a cursor key doesn't really become an issue until one notices a typo early on and has to press 80+ Alt-H keystrokes to get there and fix it.
All of the notes in all of the books are compiled into a little document called "My clippings"; the format is a bit difficult to read and my biggest beef is that there is no way to branch back from the clippings to the book itself.
Regarding Miyamoto's work itself, I was struck how dominated his thinking is by analogizing from the single-person duel to the larger clash between armies. Since his book is supposed to be an all-encompassing strategy and not just the strategy of swordsmanship, I understand why he does that. But the analogy breaks down, at the latest when discussing the mode of attack. It makes perfect sense in a sword duel to move in as quickly as possible and mow the opponent down before the enemy has much of a chance to strike; Miyamoto calls that "treading down". But translated to the larger setup, this means attacking while the enemy is still busy firing arrows and guns at one. That might be heroic, but since World War I trench warfare at least we know that this is simply silly.
More theoretically speaking, Miyamoto's strategy tacitly presumes a level of incompetence and deficiency in the missile weapons that does not flow from the larger philosophical picture. Miyamoto's strategy description is an accurate abstraction for 17th century Japanese weapons' technology; but it's very foundational conceptualization ["the way"!] eliminates the possibility of accommodating change of technology.