# People who insist on touching the computer screen. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 27, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783 "2003-06-27T16:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/21 "2003-06-27T23:32:41Z")
Ah, my kingdom for high-powered ultraviolet laser beams… (just so’s ya know, I typed “beans” first, instead of “beams” - really changes the whole meaning.:D) Seriously, people, how hard it is to point with a pen that won’t leave a smudge? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/22 "2003-06-27T23:33:09Z")
**ParentalAdvisory** , there’s a consumer product for every need. Stock up on [these](http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1005) and insist that habitual screen-touchers utilize them if they absolutely _must_ touch the screen. I have a feeling they may opt to keep their hands to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/23 "2003-06-28T00:44:50Z")
Some of my very dearest friends are… oh, it pains me to admit this - I consort with screen-touchers! They’re good people, really, when you get to know them. And perhaps, just perhaps, one day they’ll learn. My heart is heavy with sorrow. All around my I see people with such freaking awful eyesight that their eyeglasses and computer screens are caked with filth. Better to have VPL, big swaths of unshaven jawline, or an open fly than to go out in the world with dirty glasses. I have only pity for the screen-touchers. Except that one time I slapped an intern’s hand away from my pristine monitor. Yrs. in alcohol and cotton pads. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/24 "2003-06-28T00:52:51Z")
I and my work mates are in GIS. Lots of maps that people love to point at. We keep laser pointers handy for this. It’s also works good for training. My work mates looks just like a 12 ga shotgun shell. Most people keep their hands away from his sreen.😃 ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/25 "2003-06-28T01:31:45Z")
At the place I used to work the Mac operator had a 21" monitor that built up massive amounts of static electricity. You could tell when someone tried to touch the screen by the way they jumped three feet in the air exclaiming “shit” and clutching their index finger. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/26 "2003-06-28T01:33:56Z")
The computer screen finger smudges don’t bother me much, I just wipe them off. The smudges on the television screen and scanner glass are what bothers me. Why would you have any need to touch the TV screen? No one uses the scanner, but fingerprints seem to find their way on to the glass. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/27 "2003-06-28T01:34:25Z")
Oddly enough, they never learned. It was always the same people you saw flying around the room with shocked expressions. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/28 "2003-06-28T01:57:41Z")
But what about those of us who (when the helpdesk proxies onto my computer) touch the screen to explain what we need help with. Or, is that a different problem altogether? :o ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/29 "2003-06-28T02:39:33Z")
Oh, this bugs me so much. First thing I do every day when I come in to work is clean the screen at whatever station I’m using that day. I guess I can’t blame my coworkers too much, though, because most of the instruments we use here have touchscreens so it gets to be a habit. Be glad you don’t have to clean off blood, serum, and urine as well as fingerprints. (And let’s not even talk about the phones.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/30 "2003-06-28T03:58:12Z")
This drives me nuts as well. I have a glass wall behind me in my office, and the glare on my monitor is only manageable if I keep it absolutely spotless. There are a couple of co-workers who continually come to me to ask my advice, and they ALWAYS have to reach out and touch the screen while showing me what they need help with. I’ve even told them. I’ve even put my hand in front of the monitor while they’re reaching and said, “Ack! Don’t touch! I just cleaned it.” But no matter what I do, they always manage to lose control and touch it at some point. I have to keep a bottle of windex and a roll of paper towels on my desk. Super annoying. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/31 "2003-06-28T05:01:38Z")
I had no idea this was something adults did! Here I’ve been chiding my children and assuming they’d just grow out of it eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/32 "2003-06-28T05:51:04Z")
Here is a tip: When you _have_ to touch the screen, touch it with the tip of your finger nail instead. No smudge, no fuss. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/33 "2003-06-28T06:06:59Z")
Just don’t make the same mistake I did and point at the screen with a magnetic screwdriver! It does reallllly weeeird things to it, and can possibly damage the screen permanently. I was lucky to be able to use a degaussing tool to restore it to normal. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/34 "2003-06-28T06:13:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*I occasionally punch my monitor. Is this wrong? \*\* When faced with a difficult moral question such as this, I always consult the scriptures. In Daniel 8:16-17 16 it is written: And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. For Gabriel to make the man to “understand the vision,” he would have to let him experience the vision in some other sense besides that of pure sight. Of course, touching is the most natural extension of the senses after sight, and so it is likely that Gabriel led the man’s palms forward, to decipher the the complex vision with his own hands. And then the man stepped forward and spoke “at the time of _the end_[sup]\*[/sup] shall be the vision.” Even the most conservative of biblical scholars understand this to mean that when the end [of the finger] is reached, the vision shall exist in that very spot, in the very _contact_ between man and the world. [sup]\*my emphasis[/sup] It’s pretty damn obvious that the Almighty says not only _can_ you touch the computer screen, he says that you **should** touch the computer screen. And what is a punch, but a more zealous form of the touch? **Miller** , you are in the clear. God says punching the monitor is OK. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/35 "2003-06-28T06:27:05Z")
My flat screen has been touched once. _Once_. If you dont know any better, I’ll learn ya in a hurry. \*reaches for a miniature guilliatine(sp) ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/36 "2003-06-28T07:12:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MisterThyristor \* > \*\*Just don’t make the same mistake I did and point at the screen with a magnetic screwdriver! It does reallllly weeeird things to it, and can possibly damage the screen permanently. > > I was lucky to be able to use a degaussing tool to restore it to normal. \*\* I did the same thing with a magnet, and there was a slightly darker than normal spot near the center of my monitor screen. It seems to have gone away with time. ---
**Author:** ![hyperjes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@hyperjes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyperjes)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/37 "2003-06-29T03:54:36Z")
**Jeff Olsen** , that would be [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150428&highlight=broke+the+screen) thread. I am **d\_redgal**. (It happened back before I had registered.) That may still be my most amusing shopping experience…😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wyatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b19c9b/32.png) [@Wyatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyatt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/38 "2003-07-15T21:18:02Z")
THANK YOU, one and all!!! Had a girlfriend who Inisited on touching the screen… even tried to get her to use her nail to point… but nope, nope, nope… She managed to turn it that \>I\< was nuts to think touching the screen was a problem Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, I’m no longer alone in the asylum!! (note operative verb…“had”) ---
**Author:** ![furr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@furr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furr)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/39 "2003-07-15T21:39:20Z")
hang draw and quater me, im one of those touch the screen people. example: me: “wow that piece is interesting” _point at but not touching screen_ him:“what piece?” me:“this piece below that piece here " _point again_ him:“i have no idea what the hell you are pointing at” me"here” _point_ him:“where?” me:“HERE” him:“WHERE?” me:“HERE” _gives in and touches the screen running my finger under the image or text bouncing ball style_ him:“oooooh there” believe me this exact exchange happens far more often than it should. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783/40 "2003-07-15T22:18:40Z")
My boss is a habitual screen-toucher. Drives me fucking insane. Whenever we’re working with something at my desk, I wind up with lots of little greasy smudges. I smile and ignore it, and then as soon as she leaves, I’m like fucking Adrian Monk with the glass wipes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-insist-on-touching-the-computer-screen/184783.md?page=3)