Why does society need so many slide shows?

The more technology, software, and gadgets that I see in the world, the more I realize that the powers creating technology must think that the number one plague facing society is that we don't have enough slide shows.

I mean seriously, have you ever stopped to think about how many things we have that make slide shows?

The original slide show was, of course, a legitimate slide show. You took photographs and turned them into slides. You took these slides, put them into a slide projector, projected them onto a screen, and told a story as you clicked through the slides of your slide show.

We were happy with this for decades.

Then came the personal computer. Then came PowerPoint. And you know what? PowerPoint is a terrific program that allows you to easily create slides and show them on a screen automatically. PowerPoint was technology's first major take on the slide show. Microsoft did, and continues to do, a great job with this program. It serves a great purpose and it's very useful.

But apparently PowerPoint wasn't enough. We needed more slide shows.

In addition to PowerPoint, Microsoft has created tons of other slide show utilities throughout the years:

• Additional versions of PowerPoint


• Screensaver slide shows


• Slide shows in XBox music maker


• Slide shows in MSN emails


• Slide shows in the MSN sidebar


• MSN Photos slide shows


• Windows Media Center PC slide show


• MSN TV slide shows

And who knows what additional slide show technology Microsoft is working on right now to satisfy society's insatiable need for more slide shows.

But Microsoft isn't the only one responsible for more slide shows. We also have an endless supply of programs that you can plug your digital camera into so that you can create slide shows anywhere and everywhere...on your cell phone, on your digital camera, on you TV, on a projector, and on your monitor.

Why? Didn't we used to make fun of slide shows as what boring parents made their kids and neighbors watch after they got back from a long trip? Why after being the butt of jokes for decades have slide shows now become one of the most prevalent things in technology?

Is this slide show push from the same people that resurrected the @ symbol from near extinction when they invented email? I have to wonder.

So I must ask the powers that be: Why does society need so many slide shows?