I HATE Touch screens

Hi all

is it just me but I'm dreading the proliferation of more and more touch screens -- I just HATE them.

My pet hate are the Public ones -- such as those you see in railway stations or airports -- seems to be the fastest way of transmitting diseases on the planet -- who knows if the person in front of you using the machine to buy his / her ticket has just visited the station's WC / Restrooms and hasn't washed his / her hands.

I had to really laugh the other night -- was watching the BBC's News channel coverage of the European Elections to the EU Parliament. The poor guy was trying to use a huge touch screen to bring up results in individual regions in the UK.

To get the wretched thing to work the poor guy was making contortions all over the place and looked like he was suffering from a severe physical disabilty (please no insult intended to disabled people) but if you had seen the program in question you would have thought -- well it's fine in the middle of a severe worldwide economic downturn how some organisations seem awash with cash even if the technology isn't fit for purpose.

Cheers
jimbo

I hear you Jimbo, touch screens in public places a very bad idea. I know here in Pittsburgh we have some for the subway system and I don't think they have ever been cleaned I now know some people that carry rubber gloves with them just in case they have to use one of those things I think i might do the same.
Touch screens on personal devices are ok, but in public please god no.

touch screens in public places a very bad idea.

Not only are touchscreens a bad idea but so are doorknobs

and sink handles..

I don't mind them for kiosks. Really, what alternate form of control could you have that's cleaner? In fact, buttons and other controls with crevices collect all sorts of stuff, but at least a screen could be wiped periodically.

The world's a disgusting place no matter what you do. We're constantly oozing bacteria, viruses, hormones, and sweat that all over each other nonstop. Invariably, you're injesting fecal matter and bugs and... let's just say, touchscreens are the least of our problems.

redsoxm16 said:

Not only are touchscreens a bad idea but so are doorknobs

Doorknobs are generally much less of a problem as you tend to use them in "Known" environments -- such as private workplaces etc etc.

A 100% public place like a railway / subway station poses much more of a threat due to the often much larger number of vagrants, panhandlers and other assorted random people hanging around these places - also door knobs etc are usually cleaned daily whereas how often is a ticket touch screen ever cleaned,

Cheers
jimbo

redsoxm16 said:

Not only are touchscreens a bad idea but so are doorknobs

Yes they are but most buildings have a cleaning crew that has some sort of weekly cleaning cycle so I know those have been cleaned in the last 7 days. If I really sat down and thought about this I could become one of those freaks that doesnt leave the house. Guess I should just carry one of those purell germ things like my sister does for my four year old nephew..

Why do you think touch screens are dirtier than other public surfaces? Maybe because you can see the smudged oil and dirt on them. If you touch guardrails walking down to the subway, or the handle to open the door to a Burger King, you're touching the same types of germs. It's the illusion of cleanliness because you can't "see" the dirt and oil like you can on a shiny screen.

Buttons on ATMs...dangerous! LOL.