PowerPoint: Savior or Demon?

The other day, I was working on an online course and I came across some PowerPoint "lectures". I use quotes because each of the ninety or so slides in every chapter's PowerPoint looked as if it came from a different presentation. Different fonts, different colors, different sized photos, clip art, and phrases so truncated I couldn't tell what was important. I can't imagine how the students in that course must feel. (NOTE: these particular PowerPoints were included as part of the publisher's "bonus" materials; they were not made by the instructor).

Now, I admit I've used PowerPoint in my classrooms, workshops and seminars and for good reason. Those slides keep me on task. If I get off track, I can look at the slide and know right where I was. It allows me to show images in a way that the old overhead projectors did not. I can make handouts, give them to students or participants so that they can make notes on the handouts and have something to carry out of the class with them. It's an organizing tool, an image display, and (I hope) it keeps others in the room just as focused.

But what happens when we move to online class spaces? Does our trusty PowerPoint transfer its usefulness or does it fade into obscurity? Are there limitations to using it? If so, what are they? Is there any reason at all to use it? I don't necessarily have all the answers, but I'm wondering if (and how) the rest of you guys use it. Your comments please...