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PowerPoint Celebrates 25 Years of Boring Slideshows

by Caleb Johnson on August 20, 2009 at 08:40 AM

It's a staple in classrooms and boardrooms across the U.S.A. -- the obligatory PowerPoint presentation. For the past 25 years, whenever and wherever there are people called upon to present information, Microsoft's slide show app has been there. While a fairly convenient way to organize and present a topic, the software's not without its faults, either.

BBC News recently gave a rundown of the program's more glaring problems. Presentation expert Max Atkinson says presenters often rely too much on the slides; speakers will turn their backs on the audience in order to reference the slides. If that wasn't bad enough, audiences tend to get distracted by trying to read every word on the screen. Atkinson says the biggest problem with PowerPoint is that it encourages its users to include too much written information. You've seen it -- the presentation packed with slides that are the word for word script of what the presenter is saying.

In a fitting presentation, the BBC News piece includes a PowerPoint slide show highlighting the program's history. According to said slide show, Powerpoint was originally called 'Presentation' and intended for use by "managers, professionals, knowledgeworkers and salespeople." Since then, it's become a crutch for nervous speakers everywhere, with 500 million users worldwide. Now, next time you see those bullet points, you'll have a whole new appreciation contempt for this 'magical' program. [From: BBC News]

Tags: microsoft, powerpoint, presentation, public speaking, PublicSpeaking, slideshow, software, top

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