Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-30 of 48
 Statments without logic and support. March 10, 2006
Great Maps (Lincoln, NE)
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
I was expecting a better book from Tufte, but this book really does not provide strong evidences against the use of PP. How many good presentations have you seen in the last 5, 10 years? I can personally count 2, both using PP, and many bad, also using PP. And what about my own presentations? Many have been bad as well, some good. There are so many variables, that just blaming a tool (PP), does not make sense to me. Tufte uses as a reference to make his point a NASA report that had so many flaws that mislead the decision making process of NASA's authorities in preventing a space shuttle disaster. Hey, great idea to distribute such important information using a PP structure!!! Is the culprit the PP report, or the inept engineers that decided to make a report in that way? I felt that I wasted my time reading this pseudo book.
 Classic Tufte, but...... February 22, 2006
R. Fisk (Lewisburg, WV United States)
22 out of 25 found this review helpful
Basically, this is an elegant set of arguments against using Power Point.... for anything. Everything that Power Point users hold near and dear are torn apart in this short treatment.
The problem is that Tufte offers no way to use Power Point more effectively, except as a "low resolution slide projector." So, if you want to bash Power Point and are not looking for ways to improve your PPT presentations, this is the book for you.
I bemoan the wholesale conversion of lecture slides and overheads to Power Point for no particular reason other than to "become contemporary." But paying even $8.00 for the privilege of being told not to use Power Point is probably not what most instructors have in mind.
Spend a little more on The Visual Display of Quantitative Inormation and have something that truly teaches you something.
 if you HAVE to use power point... December 21, 2005
S. Jones (deep south usa)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
learn to STOP TALKING long enough for your user to actually read whats on your screen. Dr. Tufte talks about the deadliness of bullet lists...but a presenter can make it worse if s/he talks non-stop while the list is up; audiences can only process one chunk of words at a time..read it or listen to it...but not both. that's why Dr. Tufte presents images...and teaches how to do so. An image lays the groundwork, delivers 'perception', so much faster. and a ppt needs to deliver perception to the viewer, not just serve as the writer's cliff notes; This booklet should be required reading for all speakers, and should be included in the speakers' kits handed out before all conferences everywhere. Very funny, and a very gentle way to improve the quality of your conference.
This changed my (professional) life November 21, 2005
James Hayes-Bohanan (Bridgewater, Mass USA)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
Many of my colleagues argue that PowerPoint is only bad when used incorrectly. These people usually mean that one should keep the bullets to a reasonable number and the text reasonably large. Tufte argues that using the PowerPoint as intended is precisely the problem, and he makes the case well.
I often assign this book to students and I sometimes give it to friends. One of the best class sessions I ever had was a discussion of the cancer statistics in this book.
PowerPoint contributes to a culture of quick and simple answers.
I still use PowerPoint as a vessel for delivering carefully chosen words and images, but I am using more handouts, and they work well.
The most important thing about a presentation is having something meaningful to say. One of Tufte's key complaints about PowerPoint is that it convinces people they can make presentations, even when they really have nothing to present!
See Tufte's other books for guidance on the handouts and on choosing and presenting images. Better yet, attend one of his workshops. At close to $400, they are not cheap, but they include the books, and they are well worth the money and time.
28 page argument August 16, 2005
Phillip Kerman (West Linn, OR USA)
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
I totally agree with many other reviews: it's not as good as his books (well, it's only 28 pages) and it doesn't offer any constructive suggestions. (In fact, it's pretty easy to point out negatives... ever read such a review on amazon?)
Anyway, the production quality and organization of this paper is totally Tufte. I literally laughed out loud several times! I don't think I can say I really "learned" anything however. (Sometimes I felt like calling the dude up and picking an argument about some generalization he made.) What it did do was provide some great evidence for when I need to tell someone to avoid PP. It also provided the necessary motivation for me to actually produce a good handout for every presentation I make (something Tufte taught me a long time ago, but I needed a good kick).
I feel the $7 and time invested to read this is well worth it. I can't wait for his next book due in 2005.
Showing reviews 26-30 of 48
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