Welcome to the age of 'desktop presenting': desktop presenting packages More and PowerPoint have endless educational applications. (Software Review) (The Macintosh College Computing Lab) (evaluation)

Welcome to the Age Of "Desktop Presenting"

Move over desktop publishing, here comes desktop presenting -- in the form of professional looking slides, slide shows, and transparencies. Actually, there's plenty of room for both, since they represent a lion's share of what college and university faculty do: write articles, proposals and reports, and give lectures and speeches.

PUBLISHING VS. PRESENTING

The phrase "desktop publishing" (DTP) became popular just two years ago with the introduction of Apple's LaserWriter printer and DTP software. Suddenly faculty had all the tools to publish from their desktops -- Macintosh computers; software for integrating text, graphics, and structures; and high-quality printing or camera-ready output. Now Apple and third-party developers are bringing high-quality presenting to the masses.

Desktop presenting, which some call presentation graphics, means using a desktop computer with appropriate peripherals and software to produce high-quality presentations. Although for some time now drawing and painting programs have been used to create slides (for the remainder of this article, the word slide will include 35mm slides, overhead transparencies, and slide shows), desktop presenting needed a boost. More and PowerPoint, two special purpose software programs, provide that boost, and include features that will specifically appeal to educators.

…