Now it's the turn of the ABC's Science Show to confuse Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth as Powerpoint, not Keynote. And not give a damn.

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Now it's the turn of the ABC's Science Show to confuse Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth as Powerpoint, not Keynote. And not give a damn.

Date Created: 10 Jul, 2007, 11:44 PM

It's always a little sad when someone you've admired turns out to have feet of clay, so sit back and I'll tell you a little story that involves Apple's Keynote, Microsoft's Powerpoint and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship Science Show, hosted by Robyn Williams (pictured, left).

This past weekend, Williams hosted and produced his regular weekend Science Show, a round up of news and interviews about... you guessed it, Science. It was one of the first to have its own podcast, thanks to the foresight of the ABC's Digital Business development team.

I was alerted to this past weekend's program by a reader of this blog, Chris McIntyre, who suggested I might be interested because the last ten minutes of the hour-long show would be about Powerpoint.

This was interesting timing as I was preparing my own Keynote-based presentation for Monday just gone, in Brisbane. About a month ago, I had been invited to give a presentation on Presentations at a two-day inservice conference for teachers and educators of the Southbank Institute of Technology, a multi-campus setup comprising more than 20,000 students. This was the opportunity for all faculty to come together in one place to network, and be educated and entertained.

And it was the christening of Southbank's brand new multi-million dollar facilities, comprising a number of multimedia labs with scores of shiny white iMacs (and lots of black dull Dells too).

I gave two presentations, one a breakout workshop on Web 2.0, and the other to about 150 people on "Powerful Presentations".

You can read something of the conference here but let me spare you the time and reproduce below what I offered my presentation would be about:

"Powerful Presentations - using evidence from the cognitive sciences to best inform, persuade, and present your knowledge (and not cause death by Powerpoint)

"2007 marks the 20th Anniversary of the introduction of Powerpoint.”
While it may have started out as the unwanted nephew in the Microsoft Office family, its inclusion has set the tone for presentations, from the corporate boardroom, through the university setting, and into primary schools.

In this fast-paced hour, psychologist Les Posen will look at the cognitive basis and neuroscience behind presentations via slideware, and argue that the evidence base by which most presentations are delivered borders on nil. However, a body of literature exists which informs those who wish to know, how best to present complex information to a wide variety of audiences. By demonstration as well as discussion of the research especially where slideware presentations have contributed to catastrophes, Les will challenge many of the ways most people present. The irony is that while many in academia and professional development training will present their research and training based on empirical evidence, the means by which they present those same results is based on tradition and social conformity. Be prepared for a bumpy ride if you've not given a thought to how to present (NB. The speaker specialises in treating fear of flying when not teaching presentation skills). You will change the way you present by the end of the hour! "

So thinking I might be able to throw in a quote or two from the Science Show broadcast (or podcast) I downloaded the audio file from here, where I noticed the guest featured was none other than Prof. John Sweller, talking about cognitive load.

Regular readers of this blog might recall that I featured Prof. Sweller's research with an entry here back in April, so it only took the Science Show about three months to catch up with what the blogosphere's been talking about. It was Sweller's assertion that Powerpoint has been a disaster for good communication and learning.

Now you don't have to download the podcast because the ABC offers a transcription service and you can read the interview here.

Take a look below at a screenshot of the first section of the transcript and tell me what flies off the screen at you (click to enlarge it):

Nicola Phillips is the reporter who did the story with Sweller, and she too has assumed that Al Gore used Powerpoint - the application - to do a "powerpoint", the slide show.

Now all good readers of this blog know that as a Keynote user one cannot stand still and allow slack journalism to go unanswered, much as I did when C|Net did the same some months back, as I blogged and others noted here.

Someone who caught the ire of devoted Mac users for the same slackness then compounded it by blowing off complainers was Business Week's Arik Hessendahl.
In an article he too cited Powerpoint as the genius behind Al Gore's award winning documentary, then in a non-mea culpa wrote a follow-up article, entitled:

"Okay, Okay, It was Keynote, not Powerpoint!" (live link to article)

A few bonmots of attempted explanation from Arik:

"Okay I was wrong. Many of you have commented and written concerning the fact that Al Gore's so-called Powerpoint presentation that led to "An Inconvenient Truth" was actually prepared on Apple's software Keynote, not the Microsoft software, as I said in today's column.

Now, I called it a Powerpoint for two reasons, one fairly obvious, is that Powerpoint is often a generic term for computer presentation, much like Kleenex, (a trademarked name) is often used generically to describe tissue paper. Additionally, I remembered having heard Gore describe the genesis of the film as a "Powerpoint" presentation, where he was clearly, using that word in its widely-accepted generic form. I wondered too, if being an Apple director, Gore had actually used Keynote, but never followed up on the issue.

But here's the living proof, courtesy of Apple's very own Web site, on how the presentation that started it all, was prepared on Apple's Keynote software.

I won't be changing the wording in the column mainly because I think not enough non-Mac users know the difference between a keynote address, and "Keynote" the software, and so as such, the generic use of Powerpoint will have to suffice."

Now, dear Reader, go to the link for this article, and read the comments section, to see the level of disbelief and dissatisfaction the Apple community can bring, calling into question Arik's journalism credentials.

Because, guess what? Robin Williams did the same when I wrote to the Science Show, via its online comments section. I pointed out that in fact it was Keynote, not Powerpoint, and that it seems powerpoint has become the generic term for a slideshow, much like "hoovering" means vacuuming, after the brand Hoover (Williams is British, as I recall).

Back came the reply the next day, including my original comment, below:

It too was a non-answer to my mind.

To which I offered the Businessweek links and that of my own blog entry about it:

Now, I've spent some time with media people, both socially, and professionally, so I know a little when they get cheesed off, or simply want to blow off people who disinterest them or call their integrity into question. So here's the final correspondence from Robyn Williams:

Ah, yes, good old Mainstream Media. Know how to dish it out, but when they're called on their errors or accuracy, scuttle away under the excuse of "most people understand what we're trying to say."

Er, no, Robyn.

How about a correction in next week's Science Show, and perhaps a more telling investigation into a sleep disorder occurring 30 million times a day. That's the number of numbing Powerpoint presentations Microsoft estimates is performed. How industry, schools and business still accept it in the face of current cognitive science is where the real story is.

Keep reading this blog and I'll let you know what I said in Brisbane on Monday. By the way, it was a killer Keynote, from the feedback so far received.

UPDATE (July 12): This is NOT the same Robyn Williams who is a prolific (and female) writer of things applied Mac, and whose name is spelt "Robin".

UPDATED UPDATE (July 12 11.43am AEST): I have corrected Mr. Williams' first name to the correct Robyn, rather than Robin which I used initially. I'm sure he won't be upset but perhaps appreciate that I corrected it once I learnt of my error!