How Much Do You Hate PowerPoint?

If you're like a political group in Switzerland, you would ban PowerPoint forever. The Anti-PowerPoint Party (APPP) views PowerPoint "as a representative of all presentation software" (and clearly, pure evil). With rough calculations, the group claims that PowerPoint destroys 2.1 billion Swiss Francs each year and potentially 110 billion Euros; however, the group says that "the average number of participants may be umpteen times higher" (whatever "umpteen" is).

Of course, this isn't the first cry for help in the Days of PowerPoint. Many of us have been subjected to "death by PowerPoint" and have welcomed scathing articles such as the New York Times piece, "We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint."

But one might ask: why not just improve how we use the software rather than throw out the tool entirely?

Discussion Starters:

• As a viewer of PowerPoint presentations, what frustrates you? How have you seen people misuse the software?
• What alternatives do you see for PowerPoint? What other ways can you engage an audience and help them visualize information?