Dennis Austin, developer of PowerPoint, has died

Post by broast » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 2:59 PM UTC

WanderPanda wrote: post #46

Maro wrote: post #39

I work in a Corporate where we have lots of "strategy" teams and PPTs flying around. What I learned is that PPT are more than a presentation format in this culture, they are a signaling tool: • something that is "just" an email, or "just" something somebody said in a meeting doesn't carry much weight in Corporates • .. but if you put it in a PPT with some graphics, it signals you've thought about it, and probably had…

As a tech weirdo I still think PPTs are the best way to convey concepts. You can mix bullet points with images and video and have everything be progressively revealed exactly when you explain it. I can‘t even think of an alternative to this other than adhoc whiteboard drawings which can‘t match PPTs on any axis except if you‘re just (collaboratively) developing an idea/concept

Post by smfugit » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 3:04 PM UTC

blululu wrote: post #51

WanderPanda wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a tech weirdo I still think PPTs are the best way to convey concepts. You can mix bullet points with images and video and have everything be progressively revealed exactly when you explain it. I can‘t even think of an alternative to this other than adhoc whiteboard drawings which can‘t match PPTs on any axis except if you‘re just (collaboratively) developing an idea/concept

Video is usually more effective for asynchronous presentations. Powerpoint is great for spoken presentations where everyone is in the same room. But they generally suck as summary reports. For thinking and analysis word docs are superior. For asynchronous presentation video is superior. Video allows you to control the timing and framing in a way that a slide deck cannot. The main downside to videos is that they are h…

Post by xattt » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 3:10 PM UTC

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #56

WanderPanda wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a tech weirdo I still think PPTs are the best way to convey concepts. You can mix bullet points with images and video and have everything be progressively revealed exactly when you explain it. I can‘t even think of an alternative to this other than adhoc whiteboard drawings which can‘t match PPTs on any axis except if you‘re just (collaboratively) developing an idea/concept

On the other hand, there's a good reason that bullet points aren't how formal communication is actually done, which is that they're terrible for actually doing the job of conveying information. For that, you need sentences in paragraphs, and PPT can't really do that. The best option is probably just an html doc — mix text (real text, not bullet points) with whatever media you want. Can be viewed on every device in th…

Post by hotnfresh » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 3:19 PM UTC

tmpX7dMeXU wrote: post #57

galoisscobi wrote: post #28

A strange legacy. Most of the management in my company cannot digest even simple information if it’s not on PowerPoint slides. Even when it is on preparing PowerPoint slides, text heavy slides are a big no no. Some days, more time is spent on PowerPoint slides than writing code, or actually engineering. We jokingly call presentation prep work as getting ready to push the PowerPoint to prod.

This is literally their job. Implying that they “cannot digest even simple information” is almost certainly a misrepresentation. ICs will naively paint ideal management as simply “master craftspeople that get usually paid more than me”, and when management doesn’t meet those expectations, they’re dunked on because they’re fish that can’t climb trees. Management are often there to contextualise and decide. It’s not th…

Post by ekianjo » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 3:34 PM UTC

Maro wrote: post #39

I work in a Corporate where we have lots of "strategy" teams and PPTs flying around. What I learned is that PPT are more than a presentation format in this culture, they are a signaling tool: • something that is "just" an email, or "just" something somebody said in a meeting doesn't carry much weight in Corporates • .. but if you put it in a PPT with some graphics, it signals you've thought about it, and probably had…