Microsoft Discontinues PowerPoint

MS announced that it is pulling out of the presentation software business. It's popular PowerPoint application will be discontinued. Version 2007, included in MS Office 2007, will be its final release.

The impact will be felt worldwide.

• Presenters will no longer have the ability to project their speaker notes to their audiences.


• Audiences will no longer enjoy chasing text as it flys in from the left.


• Speakers will have to become experts in their subjects.


• Lights in meeting rooms will be needed.
• Business professionals will have to sit idle in airports waiting to board flights.


• The RANSOm NoTE slide with seven different fonts will become a thing of the past.


• Presenters will have to face their audiences and make eye contact.


• 3D effects will be limited to the real world.
• Meaningless animations and sound effects will become homeless.
• Presenters will be forced to draw attention to themselves and become "trusted advisers."
• Meaningful dialogue between the presenter and the audience may take place.
• The linear "presenter focused" presentation may change to a dynamic "audience focused" presentation.
• Millions of disengaged hours sitting in darkened rooms will be converted to productivity.
• Visual learners will be pushed to paint powerful pictures in the right hemispheres of their brains.
• Presenters will have to revert to the time-proven method of persuasion called "storytelling."
• School students will have to give book reports the old fashion way, i.e., stand in front of others and develop self-esteem.
• Only optometrists will have use of eye charts.
• People will be less likely to communicate using long bulleted lists.

Okay Mr. Gates, this is just a bit of humor. PowerPoint will continue to proliferate throughout the world. We can only hope that more presenters learn to use it as a support tool, and not a crutch.