[Biggerfoot]

I needed to give about an hour presentation at, out of all things, an IT Colloquium. Since I knew I did not need to link to a web browser or my DVD, I thought I would give Keynote a try.

The Good:
1. Keynote was easy to learn. I was able to make a presentation from scratch without any problems. My copy arrived Tuesday and I used it Wednesday.

2. The graphics and text were much better than PowerPoint. I was using a PB G4 800mhz and an 800x600 projector.

3. The transitions were great. I enjoyed both the slide transitions and graphic transitions within the slides.

4. Keynote worked great with my Keyspan remote.

The Bad:
1. There is no way to navigate within the presentation. For example, after my presentation was over, I had a question dealing with one of my first several slides. There was no way to go back other than back up. I had to back up through over 40 slides. I was very embarrassed and I felt this made my presentation look amateurish.

2. I was also asked about an issue relating to something on the Internet. While I knew I could not directly link from within before hand, even in PowerPoint, and with the use of Fruit Menu, you can link to any program while in the presentation. I was force to quit my presentation and go to my web browser. Again, a very poor presentation appearance.

3. I needed to make a slide show for the audience as they came into the conference. I normally just use PowerPoint with a sound track and loop it. You cannot do this with Keynote. I did make a looped QT movie and then placed an audio track over it. It worked but required more work than PowerPoint.

4. Print options for handouts are very poor. I had to export to PowerPoint for handouts. I normally use the 6-slide option to proof read and use the 3-slide option for handouts.

Will I use Keynote 1.0 for my presentations? No

What does it need for me to use? I have to have a way to link to outside programs and a way to navigate between slides. I can live with the print options as long as I can export to PowerPoint.

Will I use it if the navigation and action button features are included? Yes

Am I sorry I bought this version? Yes. If I had a demo, I would have just waited for more features.

[C.J. Moof]

Re: bad points

1) How would you do that in ppt? I didn't realize there was a way to jump to a specific slide # w/o seeing the slide browser.

2) So if in .ppt, you wouldn't have had to change from the presentation to a browser? I don't think I get what you're saying here.

3+4) Yep. Both of these could be better.

[Biggerfoot]

Originally posted by C.J. Moof:
Re: bad points

1) How would you do that in ppt? I didn't realize there was a way to jump to a specific slide # w/o seeing the slide browser.

2) So if in .ppt, you wouldn't have had to change from the presentation to a browser? I don't think I get what you're saying here.

3+4) Yep. Both of these could be better.

1. While in a presentation in PowerPoint, if you run your pointer over the lower right corner, a menu opens up that gives you options to end the show, to select a slide number, and with Fruit Menu, you can use any of your Fruit Menu items.

2. In PP, true, linking to another program does go to the program. However, it is smooth and you can jump right back where you left off in PP without having to restart it. It is not unusual for me to have the DVD player and a web browser link in a presentation for teaching. I used the esc key in Keynote to go to Safari, however, I had to hit the play button again. This was at a conference and it illustrated the weakness of Keynote.

[juanvaldes]

please let apple know!

[petergallagher]

Apple has a pretty thick skin. So I'm going to criticize V.1.0 as if it were a mature product.

I think I have the right to do so becuase I paid more than this program is worth ($Aus200!). If a demo had been available, I'm one of those who would have waited for better functionality.

Jobs says he's beta-tested it for a year. Well I can't see much evidence of beta-testing by REAL users in the program design.

I don't particularly mind that Keynote is not yet up to PowerPoint. But it's not even close, unfortunately. Here are my main gripes.

1. In the first few hours, presentations have twice frozen my iBook (600mhz, 380meg of ram) -- the platform I normally use for Presentations. This alone means I probably won't trust it on the road.

2. Printing options are primitive (2, 4 6 up printing is badly needed; with notes for each slide, not the weak 'proucers' mode). This omission is dumb. Experienced presenters know that they need good print handouts in a compact format. Jobs, who can call on a hundred PR flunkies probably never gives handouts a thought.

3. No on-screen or even keyboard shortcut controls for navigating a presentation -- a startling omission. Anyone who stands in front of an audience that is not quite as reverential as Jobs' audience knows that they have to be ready jump around the presentation a bit as a result of audience questions or objections. Without navigation keys you'll look like a turkey ('Sorry, folks. Just be patient while I flick through those last dozen animated slides again')

4. Bulleted text is NOT outline based! This is a major weakness in an outline-oriented medium. Bullets are not a substitute for an outline.

5. The blurb claims that there are 'drawing tools' -- e.g. page 45 of user reference. Not true, as it turns out. There is a small palette of 6 re-sizeable (vector) objects. There are no useable lines, erasers, polygons...

6. Simple image manipulations tools (crop?) are missing (PP even has filters!)

7. Keynote seems to be too demanding for most laptops: the environment where most presenters will want it to run. Most transitions are acceptably fast on my iBook (600mhz, 380k ram) if you use anticipatory clicking, but its far from snappy (and a couple of times it seemed to choke... see above). I wouldn't like to be editing on the iBook.

There are nice things, too: most of all it looks good. But, so far, I have more or less the same impression of Keynote as I have of the other iApps. The surface is sophisticated: but there's not a whole lot underneath.

[mmintler]

Hey Guys,
Anytime you buy a 1.0 version of software you are pioneering that product. Unfortunately, that's the way the software industry works these days.v.1 apps are 1 step from being a beta.

Also, when comparing keynote to PP.Remember that MS has had PP for YEARS and as far as I can tell it hasn't had any earth shattering improvements since '98

For a first attemp keynote is pretty amazing. Just wait, Apple will improve it.

[Biggerfoot]

Originally posted by juanvaldes:
please let apple know!

I did provide feedback to Apple requesting navigation, hyper-linking, action buttons, and better printing.

I am seriously considering returning it for I can not use it as it sits. If they come out with an update in the next couple of weeks, that would be okay.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by Biggerfoot:
I did provide feedback to Apple requesting navigation, hyper-linking, action buttons, and better printing.

I am seriously considering returning it for I can not use it as it sits. If they come out with an update in the next couple of weeks, that would be okay.

My thoughts exactly.

There are some VERY serious (in my opinion) omissions in Keynote. The $100 price tag is somewhat outrageous if you already have PowerPoint.

The Good:
- The text looks AMAZING
- A fool could make a great looking 10+ slide presentation in about a half hour
- Copy and past "just works"... well, most of the time.
- The transparency effects are VERY cool.
- I actually feel in control of the presentation, rather then having the presentation in control of my show.
- The fade effects are VERY smooth.


The Bad:
- The file size really isn't designed for email. A small presentation 4 slides with 5 OK sized graphics was over 2.5 MB. I don't consider that small. Maybe in a few years we will, but not now. (Actually, the Keynote "files" are actually folders containing all of the "pieces" of the presentation.) I guess that's a good idea, but who knows...)
- Although Apple said that it could read Photoshop files etc. I'm having some difficulties doing so.
- It's really limited to only a few usable corporate templates (all of which are better then M$) I get ill from even looking at them anymore.
- Not being able to go back to a specific slide does make one look somewhat amateurish. I would love to see a option command or something to go directly to a slide (I hate how in PP you need to use the mouse).


The Ugly:
- Print options are almost nonexistent. This is a big deal for many of us as we design presentations for others. We hand it off to them after they have made changes. It also has
- There is no automatic play button (where you can set the time between slides). Sure you can export it to a quicktime movie, but that isn't what many of us need.
- Export doesn't seem to work all that well (for PP or QuickTime) It may just be my copy, but when you have a long presentation, the QT version drops parts. PP just looses images etc.

P.S. I also thought iTunes 1.0 was crap, so let's hope by 2004 this is at 2.0 and we will fall in love with it all over again.

[Sarc]

Although I would of expected a better product from Apple, I'm very excited about what the future may bring to Keynote.
iTunes 1.0 sucked IMHO, hell I even used SoundJam when I switched to OS X (10.0) because although it sucked ~ 20% CPU it was a better app.
iTunes 2 came out and I adopted it instantly ...

Hope the same happens with Keynote.

[onomotapoeia]

Originally posted by Biggerfoot:

I am seriously considering returning it for I can not use it as it sits. If they come out with an update in the next couple of weeks, that would be okay.

um good luck returning an opened piece of software.

[mrchin]

Originally posted by Biggerfoot:
I I am seriously considering returning it for I can not use it as it sits. If they come out with an update in the next couple of weeks, that would be okay.

10 day return policy of any unopened hardware or software product. If it is opened, you will be charged a 10% restocking fee on hardware. As for software, no open boxed returns can be accepted.

[KaiiaK]

Great Slide Navigator in MS PP

In PowerPoint select:
Preferences - Views

at bottom in the box it says Slide Show

Pop up menu, Select 'Slide Navigator'

This gives a great slider with picture of your slides.


Keynote is very nice, and it needs some small improvements. I find it too slooooow for huge presentations (300 slides).

All presenters, please send feedback to apple. I have requested Speed, Linking, in presentation slide navigation.

[mbperk]

I am seriously considering returning it for I can not use it as it sits. If they come out with an update in the next couple of weeks, that would be okay. [/B]

Since it seems you cannot return it would you consider selling it at a discount?

[brainchild2b]

Maybe you didn't play around with Keynote enough, while it doesn't have all the navigation shortcuts as powerpoint, here are some you overlooked!

B = toggle black screen
N = next
P = previous
Home = First Slide
End = Last Slide

I'm guessing there is more undocumented ones. keep looking!

Start your slideshow a minute or so before u start the presentation. Just hit "b" and the screen will stay black. This gives Keynote time to queue all the realtime effects. When your ready to start hit b or go to the next slide.

[Biggerfoot]

Originally posted by brainchild2b:
Maybe you didn't play around with Keynote enough, while it doesn't have all the navigation shortcuts as powerpoint, here are some you overlooked!

B = toggle black screen
N = next
P = previous
Home = First Slide
End = Last Slide

I'm guessing there is more undocumented ones. keep looking!

Start your slideshow a minute or so before u start the presentation. Just hit "b" and the screen will stay black. This gives Keynote time to queue all the realtime effects. When your ready to start hit b or go to the next slide.

Yeah, I was able to find those but the black screen option...that is a handy one...thanks.

I was able to program the others into my Keyspan remote and it worked just fine.

[tdbiii]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I would love to see a option command or something to go directly to a slide (I hate how in PP you need to use the mouse).

You do not need to use the mouse in PP. You can type a number followed by enter/return and you will jump to the slide you typed the number of. On other words if you want to jump back to slide 20 you just type 20 [return] and you will jump there.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by tdbiii:
You do not need to use the mouse in PP. You can type a number followed by enter/return and you will jump to the slide you typed the number of. On other words if you want to jump back to slide 20 you just type 20 [return] and you will jump there.

Didn't know that... thanks! Keynnote should do the same thing (but make it even a little more advanced... Like if you type in 22 <return> 3 <return> it will take you to the 22nd slide with the 3rd "step" (graphic wise)

OR/AND

If you hit 22 <return> <return> it takes you to the last "step" of slide 22.

(we need to remember that keynote can make one slide do most of a slide show...)

I still need the automatic step option!

[Gametes]

I haven't used it, but listening to this complaint I was thinking: what if you don't know what number the slide is? going to some slide in the neighborhood then navigating to it is still "amateurish". what if Keynote had it's own slide-Dock, complete with magnification and autohide? Then you could just mouse over to the slide you want! and it would impress the audience...

[zigmeister]

Keynote has the features that Powerpoint is lacking and it is incredibly easy to use - I love the freedom of the inspector. I'm really looking forward to improvements, since this is not a finished product. To me its a mistake that there is no demo and pricing should not be so high. It should cost about $30 and come bundled with new laptops if Apple wants to make a serious dent in presentation software.

The whole Office suite is a cancer of which Powerpoint IMO is the worst example, due to absolute lack of competition. I used Persuasion and loved it, but that died. mTropolis was wonderful but is was like shooting a fly with a cannon (not to mention that fscking Quark did away with it in a nasty maneuver). Keynote seems ideal, but its marketing strategy is very very poor.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by zigmeister:
Keynote has the features that Powerpoint is lacking and it is incredibly easy to use - I love the freedom of the inspector. I'm really looking forward to improvements, since this is not a finished product. To me its a mistake that there is no demo and pricing should not be so high. It should cost about $30 and come bundled with new laptops if Apple wants to make a serious dent in presentation software.

The whole Office suite is a cancer of which Powerpoint IMO is the worst example, due to absolute lack of competition. I used Persuasion and loved it, but that died. mTropolis was wonderful but is was like shooting a fly with a cannon (not to mention that fscking Quark did away with it in a nasty maneuver). Keynote seems ideal, but its marketing strategy is very very poor.

Keynote is an absolute slap in the face to M$. It just goes to show that M$ doesn't improve upon their software until someone starts showing them up, then they hurry up and slap on some features.

Keynote should have been sold for $49.95 ($29.95 for education) and have come standard on all new Macs. They should have also offered an upgrade option for anyone that uses PowerPoint (a $25 upgrade)

On top of that, they should have said (buy a copy of Keynote in January or February and receive a free Apple t-shirt (if you pick it up at the Apple Store)

This S@#$ is common sense. I would have said "Hmmm, $50 for a legal copy of Keynote and a free Apple T-shirt... that's not bad for a bad-ass looking application plus T-shirt"

If Steve would have said "and we will throw in a free upgrade to the next version of Keynote as well (they would have had thousands of requests)

[Superchicken]

Well the next upgrade will probably be free IE 1.1/1.5

I think largely Apple just wanted to use what they already had built and make it clear that M$ does need to either keep developing for the platform or else.. I think apple is kinda dancing a pretty percarous dance with Microsoft though, they are very much able to just say screw the mac, pull word and a lot of people won't be able to use a Mac for a lot of things any more... least not without having a PC to double check compatability with.

Unfortuanately right now apple really does kinda need microsoft for a few of their apps, they don't need IE any more but it's nice to have, at least , but it is only version 5.2 and they've had 6 on the PC for HOW LONG!?

But I think there's also a good chance that this was done to make the Mac a more appealing presenation platform... and I agree maybe not on ALL New laptops, but on all new power books this should deffinately have been included as a lil freebe.

[mitchell_pgh]

I'm sure Apple told M$ not to bother with IE 6 on the mac...

As for Office, I would bet money that M$ made it so it couldkeep the Anti-trust stuff off their back.

To be honest, as long as they don't change anything, we shouldn't need anything more then a few upgrades for a long time with Office X...

[mitchell_pgh]

Question: Can PowerPoint even do transparencies? I just made a cool little presentation with a Quicktime movie. It had an Old-School TV as a border, but with the tube removed... Worked like a jem...

You can also make one slide VERY complex, or break it out...

With PP, I always felt like getting things to align would never work...

Ugh, I hate howerpoint even more now... I sure hope 1.1 or 1.5 has the few things I need...

[Mac Guru]

I'm not too sure if PP can, but since they added transparency to Excel one would think it would import into PP see thru.

I don't use PP that much to know for sure.

Mac Guru

[DNA man]

A solution would be to write your presentation in Keynote and then save it as a PP file and use PP for your presentation. I know if seems a bit daft but it would work.

[adamtki]

Keynote should've been free!

Obviously Steve Jobs was the only person to beta test it because he didn't need to back up to a certain slide and he didn't need to navigate anywhere since he doesn't take questions from the audience after finishing it.

[K++]

Originally posted by adamtki:
Keynote should've been free!

Yea, and All Macs should cost $1. People you guys need to get over your feelings of entitlement. Apple doesn't owe you software that isn't gonna make your OS better. The majority of Mac users have no use for Powerpoint, only the Pros do.

Not only does this application only apply to a small portion of thier userbase, it also is a very well designed application. If you like it, BUY IT. Some things shouldn't cost money, but Keynote is not one of them.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by K++:
Yea, and All Macs should cost $1. People you guys need to get over your feelings of entitlement. Apple doesn't owe you software that isn't gonna make your OS better. The majority of Mac users have no use for Powerpoint, only the Pros do.

Not only does this application only apply to a small portion of thier userbase, it also is a very well designed application. If you like it, BUY IT. Some things shouldn't cost money, but Keynote is not one of them.

K++ So true... I'm tired of everyone getting all upset when they see that you need to pay for anything made at Apple. That being said, I hate it when Apple makes something that a majority of Apple users can't/wont purchase due to price (and end up pirating it) If they would have

And the "Everything Should Be Free" mentality isn't working that well at Apple. I think for a person that makes presentations, it's not a big deal to just jump out of the presentation and back in. (Yes, it would be nice if you didn't have to do that, but it's not there yet) I would also like to link to A: The Web, B: E-mail, C: Tiff/Jpg/Quark/EPS etc. images, but other then the web, I really wouldn't use it.

Also, has anyone looked at how large some of these files are? Some are well over 6BM with only 7 slides!!! That's crazy!

But the transitions are SO cool... I'm actually looking forward to my next presentation.

[symonsl]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
Question: Can PowerPoint even do transparencies?

PPT can do transparencies on static objects. But setting the transparency on a movie only affects the first frame of the movie.