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Powerpoint sucks - what to use instead?

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kfitting:
More along the philosophical than practical, dont forget to read some of Edward Tufte's ideas on data presentation.  His critique of Powerpoint (more of a critique on the way it is used) is well worth the read:

Main Site (go to ET Notebooks (the forum)):
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/

Main Powerpoint essay (but look around the forum for plenty more good discussion):
http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB&topic_id=1&topic=Ask+E%2eT%2e

Another good powerpoint thread:
http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0002PP&topic_id=1&topic=Ask+E%2eT%2e

Crush:
Softmaker Office has included Softmaker Presentations for something like that. The old SO 2008 is offered for free very often like here.

mouser:
very nice links kfitting  :up:

superboyac:
Thanks kfitting.  That was an interesting read.

40hz:
While I don't need yet another project to take on, the fact that there are a number of existing, open source HTML and CSS editors out there that might serve as a basis for the kind of tool I have in mind is rather encouraging.
-JavaJones (April 26, 2010, 12:57 PM)
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I think you're on the right path with that approach. The one really big advantage web markup has going for it is how versatile it is. I've done quite a few "presentations" using nothing other than web technologies and apps, and I've been very happy with the results.

The biggest advantage to "going web" is that files based on such technologies re-purpose themselves relatively easily. So if you do a slide presentation as a series of HTML/CSS pages, it's a small task to convert them into hardcopy or PDF. And it's only marginally more work to use them to create a standalone e-book or autoplay/interactive media application. You could even dub the presentation's audio onto the individual slides for an instant 'video' of the presentation which could be then be archived, distributed, or streamed.

It also makes the presentation playable on any machine that has a web browser - which basically means all of them. Have USB - Will Travel! Hook a laptop up to a projector and it can be used in a conference room. There are even inexpensive remote control devices that can emulate the old "pickle" controllers from back in the days of carousel slide projectors, so the presenter can have heads-up control of pacing in real time.

Can't get a conference area? Then simply share the presentation over your LAN - or WAN if you need to include remote locations.

There's a good article over at A List Apart (another great site BTW!  :up: ) about doing something similar when creating e-books. Although it's not specifically about presentation graphics, much of what's discussed will apply. (Note: Feel free to ignore the inevitable nod towards the iPad. The article was written back in early March when people didn't know any better! :P ;))

Flip a page...change a slide...the basic mechanics are much the same even if the  content density and presentation goals differ.

Link: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/ebookstandards/

Web Standards for E-books
by Joe Clark

 

Web Standards for E-books

The internet did not replace television, which did not replace cinema, which did not replace books. E-books aren’t going to replace books either. E-books are books, merely with a different form.

The electronic book is the latest example of how HTML continues to win out over competing, often nonstandardized, formats. E-books aren’t websites, but E-books are distributed electronically. Now the dominant E-book format is XHTML. Web standards take on a new flavor when rendering literature on the screen, and classic assumptions about typography (or “formatting”) have to be adjusted.

HTML isn’t just for the web

It’s for any text distributed online.

Technology predictions can come back to haunt you, but this one I’m sure about: The fate of non-HTML formats has been sealed by HTML5 and the iPad. People are finally noticing what was staring them in the face all along—HTML is great for expressing words. The web is mostly about expressing words, and HTML works well for it. The same holds true for electronic books.

<more>


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Something to think about... :Thmbsup:

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