The gist of the "rounding angle" principle is actually stated on Page 72 of the 1917 Speed Studies: "The idea is not to make an effort to round the angle, but to eliminate the sharp point." Rounding angles improves your speed because you are not pausing unnecessarily. If you notice some of the writings of the experts, Charles Zoubek used to round angles quite often.
As to the size of the circles, remember that the shorthand size on the plates of shorthand editions before Anniversary are smaller than subsequent versions. This may give you the impression that it is smaller than it actually is. Take a look at Page 42 of the 1917 Speed Studies: the I circle there seems "big" to me. Also, in the 1916 version of the manual, page 34, in small letters it reads: "The size of the diphthong i is a large circle with an indentation -- resembling a combination of a and e, which, if uttered in rapid succession, yield a sound almost equivalent to i. This sign for i is generally called 'the broken circle.'" |