This week we take another look at the famous (infamous?) PowerPoint format, as continued in the Tufte article from last week called "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint."
I shall bring up two other logistical issues that Tufte raises on PowerPoint. The first is how the format of PowerPoint lends a terrible logic and sense to presenting statistics. Tufte argues that tables of valuable data in their raw form is converted into meaningless and convoluted graphs. He gives the example of the famous table about life expectancy and casualties by Graunt - it is a large table with lots of data, but Tufte argues that that is the table's beauty. Trying to dress up the data into graphs or individual slides would butcher the data.
The second issue that Tufte raises is how information is chopped up into strange pieces and then scattered into a plethora of "phluffy" slides. The PowerPoint rendition of the Gettysburg Address definitely had me chuckling. Since it would be difficult to post that rendition on this blog, get an idea of it like this: try putting into a bar graph "four score and seven years ago" in relation to new nations founded; breaking down Lincoln's poetic metaphors about the future of this country into an "Agenda" slide with bullets, and my favorite was the slide entitled: "Shared Vision" and underneath was the bullet "Gov't of/by/for the people."
I had fun reading Tufte's opinions on PowerPoint, I just couldn't help but wonder: "Well, if you hate PowerPoint so much, what do you suggest??" My conclusion last week is ultimately the conclusion I draw this week: PowerPoint is a tool, a very powerful tool. And like any tool (especially powerful ones) it can be abused and wreak havoc.
So beware.
And PLEASE do not reduce JFK's inaugural address into a PowerPoint! Can you imagine?
AGENDA
- Ask not (country)
- Ask (you - country!!)
I shall bring up two other logistical issues that Tufte raises on PowerPoint. The first is how the format of PowerPoint lends a terrible logic and sense to presenting statistics. Tufte argues that tables of valuable data in their raw form is converted into meaningless and convoluted graphs. He gives the example of the famous table about life expectancy and casualties by Graunt - it is a large table with lots of data, but Tufte argues that that is the table's beauty. Trying to dress up the data into graphs or individual slides would butcher the data.
The second issue that Tufte raises is how information is chopped up into strange pieces and then scattered into a plethora of "phluffy" slides. The PowerPoint rendition of the Gettysburg Address definitely had me chuckling. Since it would be difficult to post that rendition on this blog, get an idea of it like this: try putting into a bar graph "four score and seven years ago" in relation to new nations founded; breaking down Lincoln's poetic metaphors about the future of this country into an "Agenda" slide with bullets, and my favorite was the slide entitled: "Shared Vision" and underneath was the bullet "Gov't of/by/for the people."
I had fun reading Tufte's opinions on PowerPoint, I just couldn't help but wonder: "Well, if you hate PowerPoint so much, what do you suggest??" My conclusion last week is ultimately the conclusion I draw this week: PowerPoint is a tool, a very powerful tool. And like any tool (especially powerful ones) it can be abused and wreak havoc.
So beware.
And PLEASE do not reduce JFK's inaugural address into a PowerPoint! Can you imagine?
AGENDA
- Ask not (country)
- Ask (you - country!!)
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