PowerPoint is Dead!

The time has come for Microsoft's difficult/boring PowerPoint to relinquish its terrible grasp on presentations.  Prezi, a new program allows for MORE creativity than PowerPoint, yet makes sure no one has a clunky-looking presentation. 

It's not just a cool presentation application, it helps people organize their thoughts and figure out the best way to group parts of the presentation — almost like a word web or mind map.

A little walk-through:

Presenters design Preszis online but can download an offline application, Prezi Desktop, if they upgrade to the Pro version which costs money. The sweet thing about it being online is you can store multiple Prezis in your folders and share these through Prezi Meetings with other online users who can make alterations if necessary. Perfect for group projects or inter-department collaboration.

Concept creator, Adam Somlai-Fischer, has been creating these presentations since 2001, granted he was hand coding the whole thing, but was internationally recognized for his zooming presentations. He then met Peter Arvai who was convinced to become CEO to develop the company. It has officially been around since 2009 (WHERE HAVE I BEEN??) with investments from TED Conferences (which I love).

Thank goodness they give you an entire Learn page complete with video tutorials and sample Prezis. They also have a solid Support page if you get lost of something stops working.

They also work on your Apple iPad for portability!!

Here's an example of a cool Prezi...

Inbound Marketing Kit on Prezi

The White Whale: the Verizon iPhone

The Wall Street Journal has stated that Verizon is making a big announcement tomorrow. "Tech Analysts" have deduced that Verizon will be announcing its joining AT&T in having the iPhone.

None of these rumors have been corroborated by Verizon, Apple or AT&T however.

WSJ -News Hub: How Will Verizon Network Handle iPhone?



However, because Verizon is making this announcement, "analysts" have again concluded that there won't be any new updated iPhone, but Verizon will be getting the same iPhone 4.

Though all of us who  have been waiting years for the iPhone to come to Verizon will want to buy it right away, Apple will only release the new iPhone a few months after Verizon gets the iPhone 4.  After being trapped into a new two year agreement or phone update, we won't be able to get the new updated phone that usually comes out in the summer.  It will be outdated within a matter of months.

Another assumption by analysts is that Verizon may get the mythical white version of the iPhone...the white whale! 

Guess we'll see tomorrow...

Can Ipad or should I Kindle?

First things first, I love almost all things from Apple, so of course I'm all about the iPad. But to give the Kindle from Amazon a fair shot (it did come out first), here is a comparison of the two.

 









Price: iPad=$500 Kindle=$139

Size: iPad= 24 ounces(1.5 lbs), 0.5 inches thin and 9.7 inches measured diagonally
Kindle= 8.5 ounces, 4.8 by 7.5 inches 

Battery Life: iPad= 10 hours with Wi-Fi
Kindle= 1 month without Wi-Fi

Internet: iPad=Wi-Fi and 3G networkup to 7.2 Mbps
Kindle= Wi-Fi and free 3G wireless

Abilities:
iPad= can synch with all of your other Apple products like iPhones, iTouch, Apple computers and even your Apple TV. Your weekly schedule or whatever you need from your i Pad is always at your fingertips and automatically stored in your other devices. Remote locating is possible if you forget it somewhere too. It does e-mail, iTunes, photos, videos, games, maps, notes, e-books and thousands of apps.

Kindle= holds 3,500 e-books, can be read in bright sunlight, automatic archive back up of contents online, can read out loud to you, built in Twitter and Facebook integration to share passages you're reading. There is also no eye strain in trying to read their "electronic ink" because it is not a back lit LCD screen.

Also according to a recent survey from Nielsen, 31% of U.S. children ages 6 to 12 want an iPad over any other electronic.

So it seems the iPad wins by the mere factor that it has more functions.  Kindle is best suited for an avid reader who potentially travels a lot.