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This article reviews Edward Tufte's poignant attacks on powerpoint's one-damn-thing-after-another style. And:

Microsoft officials, of course, beg to differ. Simon Marks, the product manager for PowerPoint, counters that Tufte is a fan of ''information density,'' shoving tons of data at an audience. You could do that with PowerPoint, he says, but it's a matter of choice. ''If people were told they were going to have to sit through an incredibly dense presentation,'' he adds, ''they wouldn't want it.''

Oh, and people would want to sit through an incredibly vacuous presentation? I've had well-behaved elder co-wage-slaves refer to presentations as "death by powerpoint." There is hardly a mood of eager anticipation on the part of the presentation viewers.

In fact, that is the problem right there. Presentations are NOT things to "sit through." A worthwhile presentation is engaging, it meets a need of the audience. The presumption in Mr. Marks's statement, then, suggests that a presentation is not for the audience, but for the speaker. If that is the case, then I feel powerpoint is a perfectly adequate tool to help a person prepare to deliver a sales pitch. In an empty auditorium. (Oooh, audi torium, even the word reminds us…)