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Comment by scw | Hacker News Reader

The source post, including a PDF version: http://extremepresentation.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/choosing...

One failing of this diagram is its reliance on 'what Excel provides', including chart techniques that are difficult to interpret or misleading, such as pie charts and 3D area charts. Please, for the love of quantitative visualization, don't use 3D charts unless you understand the implications.

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But they really break up the monotony of the bullets-for-each-thought Powerpoint presentations!

Or should I say:

   * 3D charts
      * good
      * break up monotony of
         * bulleted lists
         * boring presentations
      * unreadable
         * less questions about data
         * less uncomfortable moments

"One failing of this diagram is its reliance on 'what Excel provides'"

I'm not sure that's a failing. The majority of the folks producing charts ad hoc will be faced with that same constraint. This will, hopefully, help them make the best of their meager means.

I'm curious, what's wrong with pie charts?

Primarily for two reasons: difficulty in comparison between charts, and because comparing area is more difficult than comparing length. The Wikipedia article has good background information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart

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