Blog Post Four

 EOTO Project Research: PowerPoint Evolution

    I had the opportunity of doing research on the evolution of PowerPoint presentations. During my research, I struggled to find any sources via Google Scholar. Anytime I searched "PowerPoint Evolution" or "PowerPoint Past" or anything of that sort, it came up with PowerPoint presentations based on a topic that gave me nothing of the upbringing and evolution of PowerPoint. I got lucky when searching on Google, and found a website I trusted, Britannica. This really helped me get the ball rolling on my research. 

    This Britannica website allowed for so much research along the lines of who and how PowerPoint was founded.  I learned that Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin launched Microsoft Powerpoint at a software company named Forethought, Inc. This launch was in 1987 and the software was originally called Presenter. In July of 1987, the same year the software was launched, it was bought by Microsoft for better and more accessibility. Through the original business, it was only able to be accessed through the Apple Macintosh computer so to better its abilities Microsoft expanded the access to other findings that their company was making within their software. They purchased the rights to Presenter for 14 million and it was then birthed to be what we know now as PowerPoint. However, there were so many different designs over the years as technology advanced to make it what it is today.

    Along with the new versions coming out, we have been able to see so many expansions of technology which is one of the big benefits of software like PowerPoint. With the evolution of PowerPoint, and especially in my generation of a student, we get to utilize these helpful tactics to our benefit to better our education and projects for educational purposes.

    The reason for the launch of PowerPoint was originally for business endeavors within group and team presentations. As we talk about the evolution of these technological inventions, we can see how PowerPoint has grown after researching its original circumstance for creation. PowerPoint can be used for, as we mentioned, school and educational endeavors, but also storytelling, introductions of a group, cinematic purposes, narratives over slides, and more.

    According to a trusted source called Slide Master, I read an article about the way to properly structure a presentation for the most effective way of relaying information which also taught me insight into how Powerpoint has made our world better today. PowerPoint presentations have been, by far, the easiest and best way to get a point across when presenting to a group of people, Personally for me, I am a visual learner, so when a professor has a presentation to relay the information, I feel that I grasp a better understanding which I feel like most students and business individuals can agree with. The website also taught me how to best use the different structures of PowerPoint to get a point across which many people can use to bring their presentation to the next level and wow their attendees.

    Among the negative effects of the software itself, is just the fact that it was such a good idea that others made different versions of it. Between Google Slides, Prezi, and Canva, PowerPoint has had a run for its money. Personally, I have used all of these applications and don't necessarily prefer one over the other based on the effect which isn't great for PowerPoint purposes, because they all work great.