One of the interesting things about the news business is that you get to attend a lot of meetings, which means you get to hear a lot of speeches, presentations, panel discussions, Q-and-A's, . . .

Sit with me for a few moments: We're at a convention of your Interest Group (you fill in the name), in a City Far Away From Dodson, Louisiana (you imagine the place). It's mid-day, after the President's Revel of last night, and a morning of desultory conferences; we've had a Convention Lunch seated at a large round table in a room not quite a city block square, making conversation with a group of People From Someplace Else, some of whom we've heard of, and some . . . Oh, well, skip it; they're calling the meeting to order now, while the wait staff clear tables and serve the last of the lemon icebox pie and fairly warm coffee. Let's take a break and listen.

"Let's get started, folks! Welcome to the XXth Annual Convention of (Your Interest Group)!" the Master of Ceremonies says brightly. "While you finish your dessert, let me introduce the head table . . . " (I've met this table many times, and some of the people sitting at it, but, let's not be brilliant.)

"And now it's my great pleasure to introduce Our Program Chairman, who will introduce Our Keynote Speaker!" Here it comes. Cut to the Keynote Speaker.

Thump! Thump! Thump! "Can you hear me out there?" (Yes , Lord; the microphone is on and working.) "Thank you, James, for that gracious introduction, and Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am honored to be here today . . . "

And while The Keynote Speaker (TKS) makes a few perfunctory remarks of greeting he is unfolding a box which turns out to be . . . a laptop computer, which he is plugging into . . . a projector, while an assistant is furtively looking for . . . the light control switches for the less-than-city-block-square room.

All of that done, the assistant turns out the room lights at the nod from TKS, who then becomes invisible as he turns on the projector, which flashes onto a screen which is approximately one-half block away from you, a - you guessed it - the beginnings of The PowerPoint Presentation! As your eyes adjust to the darkened room, you can faintly make out TKS turned facing the screen, his back to the audience as he reads in a disembodied voice the charts as they flash up, one after the other. Slowly, ever so slowly, your head drops to your chest, and . . . you join many others around you in contented, soft breathing. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz.

Once, in another lifetime, on a planet far, far away, I acquired, owned, and published for, oh, ten or fifteen years, a small little digest magazine called "Quote, The Speaker's Digest," which circulated to a smaller and smaller group of platform speakers, preachers, and others who "communicated" for pay or pleasure, at one kind of gathering or other. Alas, the coming of PowerPoint, together with the daily deluge of internet forwardings from well-meaning acquaintances who have got your email address, finally made the publishing of "Quote" not only financially impossible, but virtually irrelevant. It disappeared at the end of 1999, and has not been missed.

But, each time I find myself at one of the many meetings which it is my pleasure and my duty to attend as a still-practicing reporter (will I ever learn how to do it?) I remind myself of how things used to be, when people stood in front of a group and spoke directly to them about something they thought was important, and managed to "sell" quite a number of important ideas.

I'm sure the PowerPoint crowd, with their Viaos, Toshibas, ThinkPads, and all the rest, are here to stay. All I can say is, If you're going to talk to me, at least look at me. Or not; I may need the sleep.

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