Framtiden nu

At various times in my career I have been asked to make a report on a subject. Almost always when asked, the recipient has asked me to create the report as a PowerPoint-presentation. There is some notion among people that, somehow,  if you describe something in PowerPoint instead of as a text document there is some magical process which makes the information easier to grasp.  But what can be easier to grasp than a few lines of beautiful prose under an “Executive Summary”-heading in a Word-document?

Now, I am not the first to complain about the many wrong uses of PowerPoint. Peter Norvig, now the head of research at Google, wrote about the use of PowerPoint way back  in the dark ages (i.e. the year 2003). But still, things have only gotten worse since his essay so it bears to be re-iterated.

I have stopped asking whether to use Word or Powerpoint. These days I always opt for Word. If someone requests a PowerPoint-summary I ask them to book a meeting with me where I can present my findings properly. And the other way around, whenever I ask someone to make a report  for me, I ask them to use Word.

The common complaint I get back is that using Word takes much longer. And it’s true, using Word takes longer. But it is not the writing that takes longer. When you put something down in text you have to think hard. Because writing is difficult. So I don’t ask them to make me a Word-document to be mean. It just makes it much easier to find  half-truths and un-finished trains of thought. And the other way around, writing almost magically helps me clear my thoughts and understand the subject at hand.

So the next time you have something to present, use Word. You can thank me later.

I have a hard time believing in the stereotypical fan boy. How many tech geeks purchase a product only because of the brand? My guess is very few. When a self-proclaimed Android smartphone fanboy purchases the latest HTC Incredible it is because he/she believe that it is the best possible phone for him/her.

The reasoning is simple to follow. If you already own an HTC smartphone, purchasing the latest one is probably a good investment (if you consider purchasing shiny gadgets an investment). You know that all your current apps will keep working. You know that all your Google services will continue working. You know about all of the design flaws and you have learned to live with them.

Switching brands is a leap of faith for consumers. This is why Apple spends so much explaining how to make the move from PC to a Mac and reassuring consumers that everything they do today can be done on a Mac. Apple knows that even if people don’t like their PC, they would rather stick with something they know than taking the leap of faith.

Apple has spent the last ten years building trust with consumers. When Steve Jobs launched the iPhone and called it revolutionary, he was right. When Apple presented the new unibody Macbook Pro:s and called them the most beatuiful laptops ever, he was arguably correct. Just bring a Macbook Pro to someone who has never seen a Mac before and see their reaction. And not only that, they have a track record of adding features and fixing bugs in both iOS and OS X several times a year.

When Steve Jobs goes on stage and says that the iPad is the best way to access the internet consumers believed him.

If Dell, HP or Asus came on stage and said that they had built the best tablet computer, which scenario would you think is most likely?

a) They release the tablet, continuously support it for several years with free software updates

..or ..

b) They release the tablet, forget about it and six months later release a completely new tablet

How many other consumer electronics companies do you know that has the same level of trust as Apple?