Let's say, just as a hypothetical, you're sitting at your computer, casually chatting with a fellow programmer. You begin to describe some bit of code, then bring it up on your display to illustrate. You want to highlight some particular part of the code. Perhaps you move the cursor invitingly over the area to bring it to their attention, or gesture towards it with your hand.
I hear you. I used to have wallpaper that said “This is not a touchscreen”. And I remember having a TA in a programming class who not just pointed at the screen, but actually touched it, leaving a big greasy smudge each time. Ick.
Haha so true so true. I’m generally a polite guy, but OMG that changes when I see somebody using their finger. I always end up explaining to them if they REALLY need to touch, then flip the hand such that the only contact is the tip of the nail. I can tolerate this, even if I still don’t particularly like it.
Even worse that the people who just smudge up my display are those that press so hard on the screen they make it clear that the “L” in LCD does indeed meed liquid. But I do keep a pack of monitor wipes text to my desk, and in my laptop bag, at all times.
Next time someone touches your display, just poke them in the eye and say, “now you know how my computer feels!”
Interestingly, when I was a designer I was completely anal about my monitor and did actually have a sign on it telling people (including the cleaning ladies who would often smear a dirty rag over it during the evening for some reason) not to touch on pain of pain. Now that I’m just a lowly (but better paid) business analyst I don’t care nearly as much and have been known to even touch my monitor myself… I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that I used to have to pay almost $1000 for my monitors and now the company just supplies me with cheap ones.
Anyway, I’ve actually found that the microfiber cloths work just as well with water as they do with the special cleaning juice. Just put some water on the cloth to wipe, then turn it over and dry with the other side. Cleans it up a treat.
More disgusting than toilet seats AND keyboards put together: grocery cart seats. Babies with dirty diapers sit there. Little yappy dogs sit there. Then they sit in the rain and then the hot sun. And I used to put my FOOD there!!! Never again!! (URP!!!)
Your hand is dirtier than your keyboard no matter what. What people should not do is touch your eyes/nose/mouth without washing your hands, no matter how clean your keyboard is.
I have 2 17" plastic knitting needles in a vase beside my monitors at work. When someone comes by I make sure they use one of the needles to point at/touch the screen. Whenever I go to pair program with someone I make sure to take a needle with me so I can pay the same respect to their screens as I expect on mine. It works pretty well as I can sit back and point at their screen instead of having to lean really close to point at it all the time.
I hate it when people touch my monitor. The first time someone does it I politely tell them to stop, but a lot of people seem not to care, and do it again. That’s when I physically block their hand from touching my screen… and secretly hate them forever…
Anyway, like a previous poster said, I swear by microfiber cloths and water too. In my experience most of the screen cleaning products leave a lot more residue than plain water.
About dishwashing your keyboard, I did that once, and the keyboard (a Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000) had some problems afterward, including typing “hg” whenever the “h” key was pressed. Luckily the keyboard only cost $20.
I got a bottle of that monster clean stuff when I bought my Plasma TV and decided to try it on my computer monitor… simply put, that stuff is amazing. Also have the bundled cloth and I highly recommend it.
