And it does. Make you dumb, I mean. Designed for salespeople pitching products, advertising previews, Powerpoint's use in technical/analytic presentations is the destruction of content by form.
Preparing for a conference on railroad operations, the corporate communications department tried to insist that I use Powerpoint as that would make "their job easier." Easier than what, I asked. Easier than other visual aids was the answer. I said I could make it easier than that by dispensing with all visual aids. At the conference itself I watched presentation after presentation in Powerpoint with the audience falling asleep when the lights went down. When my turn came and the lights didn't go down, I thought I saw signs of panic in some of the audience. Told them that I had no intention of providing them with the means of not paying attention.
