Presentation Program - History

History

The presentation graphics software ran on computer workstations, such as those manufactured by Trollman, Genigraphics, Autographix, and Dicomed. It became quite easy to make last-minute changes compared to traditional typesetting and pasteup. It was also a lot easier to produce a large number of slides in a small amount of time. However, these workstations also required skilled operators, and a single workstation represented an investment of $50,000 to $200,000 (in 1979 dollars).

In the mid-1980s developments in the world of computers changed the way presentations were created. Inexpensive, specialized applications now made it possible for anyone with a PC or Macintosh to create professional-looking presentation graphics.

Originally these programs were used to generate 35 mm slides, to be presented using a slide projector. As these programs became more common in the late 1980s several companies set up services that would accept the shows on diskette and create slides or print transparencies. In the 1990s dedicated LCD-based screens that could be placed on the projectors started to replace the transparencies, and by the late 1990s they had almost all been replaced by video projectors.

The first commercial computer software specifically intended for creating WYSIWYG presentations was developed at Hewlett Packard in 1979 and called BRUNO (software) and later HP-Draw. The first software displaying a presentation on a personal computer screen was VCN ExecuVision, developed in 1982. This program allowed users to choose from a library of images to accompany the text of their presentation.

In late 80's, Portuguese presentations designer Miguel Monteiro and his company Universo'87, may have been the first to regularly design and display dynamic computer designed presentations, using an array of Commodore Amiga 2000 computers and video projectors. The Portuguese launch of Citroen XM in 1989 is an example (watch here). Miguel Monteiro currently owns presentations design company TRIBE Presentations.

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