Piece Comment

Review of PowerPoint at Gettysburg, rev.


Well done piece. Enjoyed the "OZ" comparisons very much. I recently wrote a paper entitled "To PowerPoint or Not to PowerPoint: That is the Question." The original designer of PowerPoint never intended for the program to have templates. The program was to contain blank slides for the creator's ideas. The templates were started when MicroSoft purchased the program. Studies conducted by MS revealed that people were having a hard time coming up with their own ideas and needed a prescribed jumping off point; hence the templates. I liked Braider's comment, "When you have a hammer like that [PowerPoint], everything else becomes a nail." I still contend it's not the program itself - it's the way people use it. Thought provoking piece and still timely as PowerPoint abuse continues.