SlideRocket isn't yet PowerPoint's undoing. But it might be

Almost one year ago to the day, a start-up called SlideRocket began a private beta of its Web-based presentation creation service. With the company opening up its beta test to the public today, legions of frustrated PowerPoint users around the world must wonder whether their digital deliverance is not far away.

At first blush, the odds are against these guys having much impact. It's a young company, after all, and who has the spare cash to pay for Jerry Seinfeld television spots. (Though judging from Microsoft's uneven success with its latest batch of TV ads, that's hardly any guarantee of rave success.

But here's what I like about SlideRocket: This very Web-friendly application offers quite a creative alternative to PowerPoint, a steadfast albeit boring product that inspires more moans than a porn flick. If I've insulted any die-hard PowerPoint fans--all twenty seven of you--sorry, but the application reminds me of liver and onions: a dish which dutifully serves the purpose, but you wouldn't be caught dead serving it at a dinner party.

SlideRocket's designers have done a nice job with the graphics options and special effects that users can add to their slide show images. The support for multimedia (including video) is an additional nice touch. You can also include slides from a media pool shared by people you include as collaborators on the presentation. For an in-depth look at the product, check out the review turned in by my colleague, Josh Lowensohn.

I don't need to remind anyone that things are tough out there, and wouldn't it be a shame if this company didn't get a fair shake? As a user, I'm ready for something with a bit more sizzle. With enough time, I think SlideRocket could give Microsoft a serious run in the presentations software business. The wild card is capital. So it is that I have to wonder how long before the folks from Adobe start sniffing around. No secret that Adobe has big ambitions and increasingly bumps heads with Microsoft. What with its flashy (Flexy) Web-based tools, SlideRocket already speaks a common language with Adobe.

Bottom line: This one bears close watching.

[Pishkado]

So - how does it compare with Apple's Keynote? Granted, Keynote isn't an option for those who must use Windows (or choose to, perhaps for valid reasons) but it is a current presentation program that users and reviewers also say beats PowerPoint hollow, and it's well past the beta stage. Should we just say that this is "Keynote for Windows?" (Their presentation asks the question "Jealous of Keynote?" at least once that I noticed.)

[joetesta70]

No one uses Keynote, that's how.

[rapier1]

Are there any other platforms for viewing the slides than online? If not, then its a non-starter. The last thing I need in a business presentation is to have the network drop out or spend time convincing someone to let an outside laptop onto their corporate network.

[MadLyb]

I've been using SlideRocket for several months and it's still a little rough and it takes a while to figure out some of the basic functions, but I am impressed with it. Unlike, most other online apps, which are like Office App Lite, this one actually delivers in functionality and unlike most online apps, it realizes that the Internet isn't always available and provides an offline viewer.

The real strength is the publishing capabilities, which is something Powerpoint can't touch.

This is the first true online competitor to Office and other online solutions should pay attention.

[Cheese McBeese]

The thing I hate about the Web world and the Apple community is that so many members are willing to put up with crap 'just because it isn't Windows based'. I have a ton of experience in all three domains and these are my current assessments:

1. Keynote isn't nearly as good as Powerpoint. It's fine for a mostly text-oriented presentation, but beyond that, forget it. If you think otherwise, you must be a delusional Apple fan versus a pragmatic slide maker.

2. The Web stuff has potential, but not close to PowerPoint yet. And until 4G wireless coverage is ubiquitous, I'd never use Web apps for a customer presentation.

3. Don't hate Msft for the sake of hating. Channel that passion to demand better from everyone.

[technewsjunkie]

Common, do we really want CHOICE AND COMPETITION?

Nah.

EVERYBODY should use Powerpoint - because it usually discounted sharply and bundled with Windows.

[rapier1]

So I used to manage presentations for a scientific computing conference. We'd often have upwards for 30 or more speakers over 4 days. When we first started doing it we didn't have any requirements so everyone would just run up tot he podium with their laptops - and then the hilarity would start. Reboots, failure to recognize the projector, and other random disasters. This ended up putting us so far off schedule we started using a dedicated podium laptop that we'd mount a SMB share on and load the presentations on to that. Of course, we'd get people giving us presentations in 8 different formats from Powerpoint to magicpoint. Which meant that we had more problems getting everyone's special case presentation to run on a single laptop. This was before virtualization so we couldn't just load one laptop with 4 different OSes and application configurations. So we decided that everyone had to use powerpoint or they couldn't give their presentation. Suddenly things started working smoothly and my job became a lot less drama filled. Which led me to believe that sometimes even a crappy standard is better than no standard at all.

[sanjaykrishn]

Lots of people have been discussing the recent surge in Web based
applications. Microsoft is a big company, and these applications will
surely cut into their margins and their market share, at least
eventually will. Unless Microsoft re-invents it self differently as a
provider of cheap light weight software, they will be overwhelmed by
the advent of free web applications comparable to their own
proprietary services. This blog article brings that point up....
http://cybertelegraph.blogspot.com/2008/09/sliderocket.html

and its free, unlike microsoft office, people might be willing to take
a bit of inconvenience from a web app if its free...

[joetesta70]

Ummm....how am I going to work on my presentations when I'm flying?

Oh yea, use PowerPoint, then upload to SlideRocket. Then hope the service is running when I get to the customer.

Not very useful.

[bugma302]

Quote

SlideRocket also lets you download your presentations and take them with you using the SlideRocket Satellite player so even if you don't have a internet connection you're still good to go.

Unquote

[michaelo1966]

More moans than a porn flick? Liver & onions? Was somebody hanging out in creative writing class then assigned a story on a Power Point competitor?

In any event the writing is fun: good work; would like to see more lively editorial content from C-Net.

[ed643]

Hmmm, kinda similar to another service I saw launch last month; flowgram I think it's called. But I think there's was more of an online collaboration tool that allowed you to add webpages as well.