

Ask HN: Your ideas about creating an alternative to PowerPoint - dzlobin

So we all know that there are flaws with both PowerPoint, and presentation aids in general. If you imagine the next generation of presentation aids, what are some problems that we can solve?
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tokenadult
_If you imagine the next generation of presentation aids, what are some
problems that we can solve?_

Persuade users to use them less. See Edward Tufte for more on this.

[http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-
msg?msg_id=0...](http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-
msg?msg_id=0001yB)

<http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html>

Peter Norvig has a funny take on this too.

<http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/>

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dzlobin
I mean, my original intent here was to get a conversation about re-thinking
the concept of a presentation aid, not to reiterate that they are bad.

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ScottWhigham
You know, I like HN for a variety of reasons but idea sharing just isn't
really one of them (for _me_ ). I haven't thought about this topic nor do I
care to but here's the thing: if I did care to think about it, I wouldn't dare
talk anonymously to a bunch of insanely smart, DIYers who can probably out-
everything me on many levels.

So no, I will not contribute. Not because I have anything personal against
you, OP, but because I think it's odd to ask the question and even stranger to
reply with actual, usable content.

I know that may seem strange to some but that's okay; it seems strange to me
that (a) you would ask, and (b) there are people who would respond with tons
of great quality ideas that could be executed by MSFT/Apple/etc in their next
release thus nullifying the potential for a small company to build "the next
generation of presentation aids".

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jpwagner
Worst response ever.

If it's still eligible for deleting you should do that now.

For God's sake man, you're the founder of an education resource!

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ScottWhigham
Why is saying that "I don't think giving away ideas to massive corporations
for free is a good idea because it ensures that startups will not be able to
implement/grow those ideas" the worst response ever? This is a public forum
that is monitored by who knows who - anyone looking for R&D could monitor this
board for ideas. Who is the OP? His profile says, "student @ Hunter College"
but his account was created 16 days ago. How do you know he/she doesn't work
for MSFT/Apple and is just trying to get the HN community to do his/her work
for them?

I think you are off on this one and, if there was an award for "Best
overreaction of the day", I'd nominate your post.

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jpwagner
I don't see a lot of "flaws" with Powerpoint because its functionality is very
simple.

I would say there are 4 key components to presentation:

1\. predetermined agenda/topics for discussion (what people use powerpoint
for)

2\. ad-hoc discussion (whiteboards are a great tool for this)

3\. verbal communication (in-person or phone)

4\. non-verbal communication (in person or video)

To beat powerpoint in functionality, just have #1 + (2 and/or 3 and/or 4).

To beat powerpoint in marketshare...?

Also keep in mind that 3 and 4 are largely being met with products like
gotomeeting or webex (and others). No one is encompassing all four as far as I
know, so there could be something there.

