Electronic Highways
Boredom by bullets
There’s no escaping the PowerPoint presentation, for its use is no longer limited to the confines of the boardroom or the classroom—the PPT file extension has found its way into almost every facet of life. Go to a weekend church service and there it is being projected onto a wall with hymns to follow along with or an outline of a sermon being given. Go to a funeral and you will see an illuminated list of the positive attributes of the deceased. Visit a friend and be exposed to hundreds of his/her family photographs via PowerPoint (to folks who thought they would be spared this trial due to the demise of the old slide projector—think again). Ian Parker in his article “Absolute PowerPoint” tells of a mother who felt that her two daughters weren’t listening to her when she asked them to do their chores so she created a lengthy PowerPoint presentation to clarify her wishes. Viewing the presentation was so upsetting to her children that the threat of a second showing was enough to make one of her girls start crying.
Educators, cartoonists and comedians have had a field day making fun of the overuse/misuse of Microsoft’s popular presentation software. Peter Norvig’s “The Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation” makes you glad that the computer slideshow didn’t exist in the 1860s and comedian Don McMillan’s “Life After Death by PowerPoint“ sketch is sure to elicit a few chuckles. And, of course, you can count on The New Yorker for a few cartoons on the software package.
Is PowerPoint making us dumb? More than a few people are posing that question. One of the more vocal is Edward Tufte, and in his essay “The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint,” he wonders if the widespread use of PowerPoint as a means of communication in meetings is a good thing for society. For those interested in researching the pedagogical, psychological or sociological aspects of PowerPoint (and other computer-generated slide programs), these UB Libraries databases should be of assistance:
• Communication & Mass Media Complete
• PsycINFO
• SocINDEX
If you know that you are capable of using PowerPoint in a responsible way and you follow the old adage of “everything in moderation,” then feel free to check out books held by the UB Libraries on improving your PowerPoint presentation skills; you can find them by running a subject keyword search on the word “powerpoint” in our BISON Catalog.
The Teaching & Learning Center also offers introductory and advanced workshops on PowerPoint.
—Don Hartman, University Libraries
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