The Author believes that inherent defects in cognitive style of PowerPoint can result in serious distortion in presentation. The first criticism the author advocated is that PPT is only presenter-oriented, and not content-oriented, not audience-oriented. Put in another way, PPT can only provide one-way transmission of information. Although I believe author has made a successful argument with regard to content deficiency, I don’t buy the claim PPT is that the one to blame on for lack of interaction between presenter and audience. Rather, I think it is more to do with the information presenter presents. Because PPT is only a media to convey the information, and what can contribute to good discussion is the information itself - Does it have the value to discuss?-thus, it is completely possible for the incurring of intensive interaction between presenter and audience, only if the topic is interesting enough.
The second criticism the author had toward PPT is its low resolution. In compare with paper, Information contained in each slide is considerably limited. Although it makes present seem to be easier for presenter, but with cost of sacrificing its content that incompletely/misleading information is provided due to over-generalization. Thus, the author urged people to use paper which provides larger volume for information instead of PPT. I agree with author on the point that PPT is inherently limited in terms of providing sufficient information. Nonetheless, PPT can still present information in a way that paper cannot, namely video or audio materials. So that I would suggest that instead of complete denial of either method, presenter can integrate both paper and PPT in presentation to fit the needs of types of information.
The third criticism the author argued against use of PPT which I completely agree with is its bullet outlines in which presenter is arbitrarily forced to use the linear construction to explain all types of information. As a result, the completeness of some concepts which are in need of spatial analysis can be undermined during the process. As the author suggested, oftentimes people are just too comfortable with the convenience of PowerPoint so that they are reluctant to explore new ways to address the defects of PPT. Only if presenter comes to realize the limitations of using PPT, can presentation becomes more meaningful and engaging.
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