Email Lessons from Napoleon
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Email Lessons from Napoleon
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Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#2Clever, though it's worth noting that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months. Mail was likely already three weeks old when delivered, urgency generally low.
That said, reading two-week-old (or older!) news often has a similar effect --- much of the urgency or uncertainty has been resolved.
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#3His stance towards email reminds me of the book “Deep Work” that many HN threads talk about. I liked the idea of triaging your emails into 3 categories
Emails that will have a positive outcome regardless of when they are processed.
Emails that will have a negative outcome regardless of when they are processed.
Emails for which a timely response will make a difference.
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#4Clever, though it's worth noting that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months. Mail was likely already three weeks old when delivered, urgency generally low. That said, reading two-week-old (or older!) news often has a similar effect --- much of the urgency or uncertainty has been resolved.
>> that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months.
Nope. At least, not in France. Their ping times were measured in minutes and hours.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22909590
"Napoleonic semaphore was the world's first telegraph network, carrying messages across 19h-Century France faster than ever before.[...] At its most extensive, it comprised 534 stations covering more than 5,000km (3,106 miles). Messages sent from Paris could reach the outer fringes of the country in a matter of three or four hours. Before, it had taken despatch riders on horseback a similar number of days."
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_telegraph
"Credit for the first successful optical telegraph goes to the French engineer Claude Chappe and his brothers in 1792, who succeeded in covering France with a network of 556 stations stretching a total distance of 4,800 kilometres (3,000 mi). Le système Chappe was used for military and national communications until the 1850s."
"A symbol sent from Paris took 2 minutes to reach Lille through 22 stations and 9 minutes to reach Lyon through 50 stations."
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#5> The term “triage” is frequently thrown around when dealing with email, but did you know it actually originated as a medical term during the Napoleonic wars?
The author is making it sound like it’s an outdated term. It’s still in wide use today for medical emergencies, and I’d wager more people are familiar with the word in that context than as a way to sort email.
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#6Clever, though it's worth noting that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months. Mail was likely already three weeks old when delivered, urgency generally low. That said, reading two-week-old (or older!) news often has a similar effect --- much of the urgency or uncertainty has been resolved.
>> that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months. Nope. At least, not in France. Their ping times were measured in minutes and hours. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22909590 "Napoleonic semaphore was the world's first telegraph network, carrying messages across 19h-Century France faster than ever before.[...] At its most extensive, it comprised 534 stations covering more than 5,000km (3,106 m…
The original clacks! Terry Pratchett always finds ways to jump up when interesting factoids surface.
Thanks for this tech history lesson, it might explain something about 19th century France that I didn't learn in (French) school.
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#7His stance towards email reminds me of the book “Deep Work” that many HN threads talk about. I liked the idea of triaging your emails into 3 categories Emails that will have a positive outcome regardless of when they are processed. Emails that will have a negative outcome regardless of when they are processed. Emails for which a timely response will make a difference.
Very frequently you are not a person that people won't mind you don't respond to them.
I need to read every non-spam email I receive and give a response if only to keep people in my network.
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#8Clever, though it's worth noting that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months. Mail was likely already three weeks old when delivered, urgency generally low. That said, reading two-week-old (or older!) news often has a similar effect --- much of the urgency or uncertainty has been resolved.
>> that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months. Nope. At least, not in France. Their ping times were measured in minutes and hours. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22909590 "Napoleonic semaphore was the world's first telegraph network, carrying messages across 19h-Century France faster than ever before.[...] At its most extensive, it comprised 534 stations covering more than 5,000km (3,106 m…
Yes, the Chappe optical telegraph existed, but it had limitations:
- Use was all but entirely limited to France. On campaign, mesages would revert to horseback.
- It was stopped by inclement weather.
- Net throughput was low, though I don't have a source on message traffic.
- Messages would have been brief ... one might say telegraphic. Little detail could be conveyed.
- Access was limited to government business. At least some of Napoleon's correspondents were likely denied access.
As counsel to others, Napoleon's mail-handling protocol would be subject to the long transits I describe.
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> that ping times circa 1812 tended to be measured in weeks or months. Nope. At least, not in France. Their ping times were measured in minutes and hours. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22909590 "Napoleonic semaphore was the world's first telegraph network, carrying messages across 19h-Century France faster than ever before.[...] At its most extensive, it comprised 534 stations covering more than 5,000km (3,106 m…
Yes, the Chappe optical telegraph existed, but it had limitations: - Use was all but entirely limited to France. On campaign, mesages would revert to horseback. - It was stopped by inclement weather. - Net throughput was low, though I don't have a source on message traffic. - Messages would have been brief ... one might say telegraphic . Little detail could be conveyed. - Access was limited to government business. At…
>> On campaign, mesages would revert to horseback.
Well, for the army. Naval semaphore (flags) could pass information across serious distance. Scout ships would often be over the horizon from flagships, their messages relayed back in minutes. The speed of pre-electric mechanical communication is underappreciated today.
Also, carrier pigeons were faster than horses.
"Messenger pigeons were used as early as 1150 in Baghdad[8] and also later by Genghis Khan. By 1167 a regular service between Baghdad and Syria had been established by Sultan Nur ad-Din.[9]"
Re: Email Lessons from Napoleon
#10His stance towards email reminds me of the book “Deep Work” that many HN threads talk about. I liked the idea of triaging your emails into 3 categories Emails that will have a positive outcome regardless of when they are processed. Emails that will have a negative outcome regardless of when they are processed. Emails for which a timely response will make a difference.
Very frequently you are not a person that people won't mind you don't respond to them. I need to read every non-spam email I receive and give a response if only to keep people in my network.
Your first sentence is quite tricky to parse due to the triple negative. I parsed it as:
Most people that email you will care if you ignore them.