CommLog

It appears we have a new pattern here at CommLog: Jeff makes a substantive and meaty contribution about something interesting, (like he did here and here) after which I ride on his coattails with a short, pithy post that simply offers some additional links about the same topic (as I did here, and will do again in this post). (Attention CRA staff: No comments about how this pattern so accurately reflects life around the office). As a follow-up to the “When PowerPoint Stops Making Sense” post, I offer this Wired article, Learning To Love PowerPoint, in which Byrne makes his case for the software (and posts some of the art he’s made with the tool). If you read it, you should also read Tufte’s response, PowerPoint Is Evil, which immediately followed Byrne’s article in the September, 2003 Wired. In it, he offers the graphic below, which reflects his sentiment. My favorite line from the Tufte article:

The standard PowerPoint presentation elevates format over content, betraying an attitude of commercialism that turns everything into a sales pitch.