Reader Response: "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint"

In my experience, most teachers who demand that research projects be presented in PowerPoint format conduct their classes in a manner highly reminiscent of the program. Lessons rarely feature visual aids, observation of themes in their current applications, or free discussion/debate of material. More importantly, projected notes and outlines are simple, idealized, and without illustrative examples, leaving students to divine usable knowledge from a technical (albeit, dense) textbook. Requiring that student presentations be nothing more than half-a-dozen slides insinuates that the pupils cannot be trusted to learn and present information themselves and that allowing them to try would be a waste of precious, precious time. Could such fast-paced, summarizing methods of teaching be a source of student apathy by suggesting that the material is not even "important" or "useful" enough to merit practical understanding?

Regarding the chapter, "What Are the Causes of Visual Presentations?" to what extent does the increasingly fast-paced dynamic, at which modern business is conducted (America is in the small minority of nations that are, on average, extending the work week) support PowerPoint as the preferred tool for dissemination of ideas? I am not suggesting, as a primary cause for this, that there is actually insufficient time to present the neccessary amount of information. But the briskness with which ideas are exchanged and business is conducted today may program its players to believe that more (time, thought, attention, etc.) is less.