Within the last four years creation of sophisticated presentations has moved into the hands of those who speak Adobe: graphic designers, art directors and other creative types, according to Dean Sandler, presentation specialist for Citi. But these migrant workers were never very comfortable in the land of Microsoft. PowerPoint was old school.
This gap between creative and cubicle cultures has led to the creation of Prezi, Keynote and other new presentation apps. Even Microsoft, feeling the strain, reinvented itself as cool with Sway.
But they are not about to abandon PowerPoint, their cash cow, for unknown pastures.
This is just fine with Nolan Haims, a Microsoft MVP who has paved a way for other graphic designers. For Haims, the hard fought field of presentation design has come none too soon. And PowerPoint is the tool of choice for him and many others who have come to accept its top position.
According to Sal Petronella of Aquent, a leading creative recruiting firm, service industries still rely on PowerPoint to make their point.
Sandler calls Prezi and other usurpers one-trick ponies that offer some shiny, new stuff. After so much Prezi-induced nausea, we begin to feel the tail wagging the dog. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, the media has become the message.
Technology can dictate content in PowerPoint as well. Its default slide will inevitably lead to bad design in the hands of the inexperienced. How can ‘headline, bullet, bullet bullet' lead anywhere else? But, as my father used to say, "a bad workman blames his tools." PowerPoint is no more responsible for a boring presentation than Microsoft Word is to blame for a poorly written novel.