PROVEN: PowerPoint makes you dumb

This NYT article describes a recent essay by Edward Tufte, the great
information-visualization guru, in which he asserts that slideware (the
most popular example of which is PowerPoint, but also includes MagicPoint,
the OpenOffice slideware module, etc.) is often better at obfuscating
information than clearly presenting it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/magazine/14POWER.html?ex=1071982800&en=799ad449b398c2d7&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

I'd also commend Tufte's website, where the essay and an excellent poster
can be ordered:

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint

I especially like the "But why read every slide aloud??" thought baloon
above one of the Red Army soldiers. (Apparently most slideware presenters
don't think their audiences have progressed to the point of literacy.)

michael

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Received on Sun Dec 14 17:53:51 2003