Issue #3

Bumiller's article revolves around the idea that PowerPoint presentations have a constrictive effect on their intended audience in that they severely limit the amount of available information, leading to oversimplification of complex issues. This accords well with my experience, though I would not take such a hard line as Bumiller does. I often resented creating PowerPoint presentations in high school, but not always for the above reason. PowerPoints can be useful in the right situations, such as business meetings and sales pitches. These situations do not require the audience to see all of the interconnections between a web of ideas; they only require easily digestible tidbits of information. With this view, it is easy to understand the PowerPoint fatigue described by the military officials in the article. They think it is inappropriate, given the complexity of war, to present information in such a narrow form. This also highlights why it is necessary to adopt an audience-centered approach during presentations: a PowerPoint slide show can not be used as a substitute for a speaker's ideas. It is only a tool, and should be used solely for the purpose of enhancing rather than dominating a speaker's presentation.