POWER in PowerPoint?

To be absolutely honest, I am not the biggest fan of PowerPoint. I don't say this without reason either, I think I have a pretty good explanation for my feeling of overwhelming annoyance.

Ever since I was in elementary and middle school, PowerPoint was forced upon me and my peers. With every school project that was related to the computer or research presentations, my teachers were somehow psyched about using this program over and over and over again. This is where it all began for me. With the click of a button, text could zoom and swirl across the page in front of my peers. As letters changed colors or pictures danced on the screen, I could even add music to the background. And what was the point of all of this? To gain attention I suppose.

Of course I am one to always get frustrated with technology, so not getting along with PowerPoint added to my anger. Plus, I found the reason behind such presentations quite meaningless as a young girl. Today, just to get someone's attention you have to keep everything brief, yet somehow entertained.

Now, as I am halfway through my undergraduate degree at The University of Texas, PowerPoint has yet to fade away in the classroom. I honestly don't believe it ever will either, because of its ability to impact an audience with bullet points. The power behind PowerPoint lies within its attention-grabbing, information-giving characteristics. Some might like it, and find it useful in classroom and business situations. I on the other hand relate quite well to the two girls in the readings whose mother made them sit through an entire presentation about cleaning their bedrooms and doing their chores. I would have also burst into tears at the thought of having to listen to my mother give a PowerPoint presentation.