Are you ready to let your fingers dance across your computer monitor, display, or interactive whiteboard? When Microsoft announced that it is including multi-touch support in Windows 7, there was plenty of groaning about dirty fingers.
"…I really don’t want users pinching and dragging their dirty mits around the new LCD monitors," writes Slashdot user binaryspiral.
"I know I’m not the most tolerant person in the world, but when someone comes to my desk, points at something on the screen and leaves a big smeary finger print, violent thoughts flash through my mind," comments TheTruthIsOutThere on ZDnet.
Channel9 user, YearOfTheLinuxDesktop, expresses, "look: I can fill my display with dirty fingerprints!"
Do you agree with these folks? Is touching something bad? Or is it a fear you can get over?
Perhaps you are hyper-clean. Nothing wrong with that. If that’s the case, when you scrub your desk and keyboard each day – before and after you snack – just take a quick wipe of the display too.
Perhaps you are a free spirit who rarely cleans and are slightly worried that this is one more place that people will notice you haven’t cleaned. Trust me, they know it already. If salt from potato chips scratching your display worries you, then there are great inventions like hand-towels and napkins to help you out.
As someone who has used touch on a notebook display and phone for several years now, I can honestly say that grime does happen. Expect it. I clean my displays several times a day. It’s a good habit to develop – just like cleaning your desk. Like most people, I fall inbetween the hyper-clean and messy categories. I admit, I am one of those people who goes around tapping other people’s monitors then sigh about how behind the times they are when I learn the display isn’t touch. Anyway, I’ve had to learn a few new habits, and it’s been painless.
On a typical day, I talk on the iPhone while walking to work. Clean it before I make a call. Sometimes I have to clean it in the middle because sunscreen rubs off onto the iPhone and that just isn’t acceptable. Very gross. 😮 Of course, I give the iPhone a good wipe down after I make a call. If I hand the phone to anyone else during the day, it definitely needs to be cleaned before letting them use it.
My Tablet PC is the same way. I clean the display in the morning, poke away at it with a pen and my fingers during the day. At some point I stop seeing smudges as I work away, then notice just as I start sharing information with someone sitting next to me. This is when a handkerchief is handy. I pull out a handkerchief from my bag and rub the screen clean. Since the Tablet PC is a dual EM and touch digitizer, I hold the pen within an inch of the screen while cleaning the display to prevent accidental commands. For the person sitting next to me, the display brightness setting dropping too low is more of an issue than the screen cleaning. A quick couple of wipes and I’m done. Then, after lunch or snack it’s time to disinfect the desk, keyboard, and display.
Interestingly, when I use an interactive whiteboard I don’t even consider dirt. I probably should, as it has been exposed to more people. More than likely this is because the surface is white with a projected image from my PC and I don’t see the reflected marks.
So, if a little dirt or smudges concern you, then here are a few tips:
- Use an anti-static wipe that is also lint free.
- If you need to clean to disinfect, then use a quick dry wipe. You can find packs that have a wet and dry pack bundled together.
- Carry a handkerchief or cleaning cloth that in your computer bag.
Overall, the value of directly interacting with my devices far exceeds a little finger grime. I tap away to end calls, send emails, open documents, manipulate objects. I haven’t used my fingers to draw like Julie Larsen Green did during the All things Digital demo. I’m looking forward to a little finger painting. Afterall, I won’t have to clean brushes or spilled paint afterward.