Power Point, is it just a sales pitch?

Upon reading this article, I had already had a preconceived notion that this guy was going to be full of crap. I was only partially right. Tufte had a lot of decent points to make that I hadn't considered. Being a full time student, I can relate to the "get it done as quickly as possible" philosophy. He makes the point that power point slides turn meaningful information into a sales pitch. He's right. The focus does seem to shift towards the flashy animation and ten word slides. I feel like the power point slide has a place, its own special use in our education system though. Reports on studies and data are fabulous for power point use. It engages the audience in a visual way with both words and tables, allowing us to absorb like the sponges we are. Now if each slide was the same droning paragraph followed by the same "left to right" swooping animation, the audience is going to shut down. Using simple, effective information in slides does have its place with an audience. We like it fast and to the point. In my opinion, power point is more for the speaker than it is for the audience. The audience is usually looking for how the speaker correlates his message with the slides. Once it reaches that point, its too late. The audience isn't focused on the speaker anymore. They just stare blankly at the slides, while the speaker rambles. See the problem yet? Overall, power point has its place in specific places, but should be avoided in a general public education setting.