Boston Globe's Take on PowerPoint Making Us Stupid: When bullets miss their targets

Ok, the Globe's headline is much better than mine. (Though mine was part of an ongoing series looking at technology that makes us stupid.)

Check out "PowerPoint: When bullets miss their targets," which does a nice job of summarizing -- in bulleted form, no less -- the problems and benefits of PowerPoint.

The issue:
■ Ubiquitous Microsoft presentation software now a fixture of high-level military planning efforts. Junior officers spend hours distilling complex issues into PowerPoint. Top commanders skeptical, NYT reports.

■ Pentagon = tip of iceberg. Military’s use of PowerPoint pales next to corporate America’s.

The case for PowerPoint:
■ Radically simplifies decision-making.

■ Offers ready alternative when elegant prose, hard numbers, clear thinking are in short supply.

■ Ideal format for identifying “paradigm shifts,’’ “synergies,’’ “value-adds.’’

The case against PowerPoint:
■ Radically simplifies decision-making.

■ Erodes etiquette. Endless litany of eye-glazing slides in darkened room promotes antisocial behavior — i.e., texting, napping during meetings.

■ “i hate powerpoint’’ —> 1,040,000 Google hits

■ Creates illusion of progress. When in doubt, add more slides!

Lessons “going forward’’:
■ “Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.’’ — Brigadier General H.R. McMaster

■ Discard laser pointer. Just talk to people.

Does PowerPoint Make You Stupid?

I've recently wrote about an article that makes the case that e-mail makes us stupid. I do think that e-mail can, in fact, make you stupid.

Next up: PowerPoint. According to a front-page New York Times article, "We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint."

The point of the article: PowerPoint makes us stupid.

Now I've written before about PowerPoint (Death to PowerPoint?). Here's a group of people who could actually make it happen.

Actually, I'm wondering if we're going to see more articles claiming a different technology tool makes us stupid.

Google? Of course because you used to have to know things. Now you just Google it.

Twitter? Of course, because we're limited to one thought.

iPhone? Sure, because you used to have to interact or keep yourself occupied while waiting in line. Now you can ignore everyone because you've got to check email or download an app.

BlackBerrry? Kind of a combination of Twitter and iPhones. Playing BrickBreaker means never having to interact with other people except through your CrackBerry.

Let me know what you think. I'll even accept e-mail responses and PowerPoint attachments.

Death to PowerPoint?

There's been a lot of discussion about whether the press release has outlived its usefulness.

I don't think the press release is dead yet. Well, the old fashioned, text-only release from a decade ago isn't doing too well, but web-enabled, multimedia press releases are doing fine.

I also read that blogging is dead.

And certainly print newspapers are dead.

Now, the Wall St. Journal, in an article entitled, "Speaking Truth to PowerPoint," suggests that PowerPoint is past its prime.

That's one item I would like to believe is past its prime.

While PowerPoint is a significant improvement over slide shows -- cheaper, more resilient (no broken glass slides), more portable (can fit on a flash drive instead of having to lug a carousel and a slide projector), and easier to update. We've all been through too many boring presentations known as death by PowerPoint.

As it is, the highly regarded tech conference DEMO has a number of rules for presenting companies, but one of the more challenging rule is "No PowerPoint." Why, Neal Silverman, a DEMO exec, is quoted in the Sept. Fast Company, "We're looking for real products, not canned presentations." So they don't want presenters relying on PowerPoint as a crutch.

The only question: what replaces PowerPoint?