He seems to be talking about toe-nailing not edge -nailing.
A hundred years ago traditional stripper canoes were being built and a few are still in existance. They were never edge-nailed because the strips are too frail. Each strip was ship-lapped and fully tapered on each end before being clinch-nailed to a complete set of steamed ribs afixed to a mold. The technique is so difficult it has almost died out.

: A lot of big, wood-strip boats are built edge-nailed as you
: describe. On Harker's Island in NC, big sportfisherman are still
: built this way in people's yards. Note that their strips may
: have a lot more width than yours, giving them a lot more room
: for error if the brads/nails go astray. That said, the method is
: proven and should work fine.