Swiss party makes dislike of PowerPoint a political issue

I suggest that Power Point isn't the problem. The real issues are: 1.) too many people think they need to have a meeting about every little thing, when they really don't. 2.) 85% of employees don't care about the meeting, Power Point or not. 3.) not every meeting needs a Power Point presentation. 4.) most Power Point presentations are crap. i.e. Just because there are 50 slide transitions available doesn't mean you need to use every one.

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The problem isn't Powerpoint per se, it's people abusing the tool they've been given, and failing to get the best use out of it.

Powerpoint is deceptively simple to use, which makes people who might be intimidated and cautious when using Excel or Access charge happily ahead with Powerpoint, not realising or caring that it's very bit as much of a precision tool as any Excel spreadsheet.

Presentations CAN be a highly effective way of getting across information, if they're properly designed and not just thrown together. They're a communication tool and, like any tool, they get screwed around with an abused.

There is certainly a monoculture around powerpoint: most people I have come across think only in terms of using MS Powerpoint when preparing a presentation. There are plenty of free alternatives to paying for such office products. More importantly, does this mental monoculture limit the thinking/creativity of the presenters?

Power Point's most legitimate purpose it to explain "simple idea's" to "idiots". In many cases it becomes the ultimate triumph of "form" over "content". If your biggest value to your employer is building / delivering PP your days are numbered.

As many others above I also feel that it is pointless blaming power point when idiots who love the sound of their own voices begin speaking. They use power point to feel more important often loading it with information and then reading it out. And what is the reaction that we get....... YAWN!!!!

The only good thing PP is good at is for emailing pr0n photo slideshows. No wonder PP is such a bane for companies and institutions...

PowerPoint is the language of buisness today. If used properly it can efficiently communicate complicated ideas visually. It's great at summerizing key points. It can bring life to an idea or company - if used correctly. The problem is that it is too often used poorly.

I'd propose instead of banning it, there should be a law requiring all politicians to have a well planned, high quality PowerPoint show for all of thier speeches, and maybe there would not be so many stupid ideas floating out there by politicians. Go ahead and ban PowerPoint from use at Swiss companies and watch the competiion soar pass them!

The real problem is that computer software is now used to create all reports and presentations, even for school children. Hence, we have an entire generation of people who are a whiz at making pretty reports and presentations, at cutting and pasting, and animation, and they spend all their time doing that instead of THINKING ABOUT SAYING ANYTHING OF IMPORTANCE.

So we have shallow presentations, shallow reports, and shallow kids doing shallow homework.

What is there to hate in PP? It is just a tool. If you don't like PP, use its equivalents in OpenOffice or iWorks or other facilities available. Use a movie clip if you like, though it will be a much bigger file, wasting a whole lot of MBs. The whole idea is to present a series of simplified charts. It's a different question if less savvy users get impressed by what they perceive as high tech and get overawed by the form and forget the content. Especially so in a meeting of incompetent, non-comprehending audience, who, if the audio is not accompanied by pictures, will just doze off. If it's a film, they will expect wafers & coffee.

I think I could understand their party's position better if they would express it in a nice PowerPoint presentation.

To the commenters here. I can remember life before powerpoint. Presentations were MUCH better.Do read the Tufte article referred to. Yes, it is just a tool, but tool selection is an important skill, and powerpoint is the right tool for very few talks or discussions.

This is the ultimate red herring...politicians banning PowerPoint for wasting time & money? No, no, no...we should be banning POLITICIANS, not PowerPoint. There...finally...I've been pushed to a point where I have finally defended Microsoft in public. There is a worse evil and this is the case.

Ahhh...Bob...you make me laugh...