PowerPoint is (not) evil

Edward Tufte says that it is “like a drug” that didn’t do as it promised. He says it made everything boring made communication worse. It is useful for outlining the speakers thoughts, but not so useful for the people listening. They have now become too common. He is annoyed by the fact that the use of Power Points is present in schools. Kids actually LEARN how to use it for commercials and such. In business, Power Points with words are hard to understand when the information is being piled on you like that. Words are not good visuals to be able to relate to. Power Points usually do not come in immense detail. The colorful graphs and charts are too much for information that requires simplicity.

Whatever is in the Power Point that will teach something is more important than the quality of the Power Point. It saves time and energy. It is far better than writing everything on the white/blackboard with an unreadable handwriting. They’re good for teaching and may sometimes seem clearer for students. You can even make handouts to give for them to keep for notes or whatever. It keeps the information very organized and it’s easy to use. It is also easy for the one presenting and those taking notes. It is easy for the presenter because he can read off of the slides instead of messy, unreadable notes. Those taking notes can just write it off the wall.


So, overall, depending on how you see it. It can be a good learning tool. For teaching, especially. Like in the article, the students actually learned something from their presentations and the teacher said it worked out well in the end. But they do get annoying. You just have to keep in mind to make it appropriate and not to tacky or something like that.