Experts Share Good ol’ Days of 35mm Slides

Written by

Nancy Duarte

Join Jim Endicott of Distinction Communications and Patty Clerico-Parham of Cisco as they share what the glory days were like before PowerPoint. These pros used to make slides by hand with equipment the size of refrigerators.

In case you’re too young to know what a 35mm slide is, here’s a scene from Mad Men where they are pitching an advertising concept to Kodak for a 35mm slide Carousel.

Listen to the interview

Topics

• Tektronix for typesetting
• DICOMED System
• Patty talks about a time of 8-inch disks and Dark Rooms
• $10-15 to manufacture a single slide
• Genigraphics Consoles that cost $50,000 each
• Building presentations in DOS with the command line
• IBM Slides from 1975
• Slideless presentations are dynamic, refreshing, human, genuine, trustworthy
• Jim talks about sleeping bag overnighters for 30 slide prezos
• Creating gradient the old-fashioned way
• When computers were as big as desks
• Back when PowerPoint was B&W
• Persuasion vs. PowerPoint
• Supply and demand for design
• 35 years later, have we progressed 35 years worth?
• Misuse of technology hurts message
• Everyone’s a “designer”, but can everyone design?
• Demand for marriage of communication skills and design skills