Very well written. You're absolutely right, fingerprints on the screen is annoying as hell :)

*Printing out sign*

I must say I was surprised to see this, but man - can I relate. I have clients constantly touch my PowerBook screen. Gona have to start breaking fingers!

Ivan.... amazing. Could not have worded it better. I work in a company with about 10 designers, and alot of executives who are guilty of this horrendous act. To let you know, all designers here now have a copy of this write up and it was well received.

I really hate when ppl trying to point at my 23-inch cinema display HD.. My mom tried and my father tried as well.. I had the time to stop them but I knew what they were thinking..

i usually compromise and teach people to turn their hands so they point with their fingernail. they can still touch the screen and it rarely leaves any residue. better than having ink on my screen. even on film, this has worked quite well for me. i have found that clients and execs are so much more receptive when an alternative is given.

Excellent read, and I Know the feeling well! ;)

My former boss used a red laserpen to point out his brilliancy.
Especially with dark screens I needed a couple of minutes to recover from the green afterimages.
Must... retouch... frogspots...

Oh, and had once a smartguy commenting my screensaver presuming it was work in progress...

Go spill coffee on a stack of paperwork on their desk… end result is the same! :-)

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I don't allow snotty execs near my precious screen.

I used to keep a bunch of those long-handled cotton swabs handy. When anyone wanted to discuss stuff on screen, I'd hand them a swab and ask them to please use that to point stuff out on screen. Now that I'm the only person anywhere near my monitor, the only thing I have to worry about is the occasional scattering of tiny sparkle lenses when I cough, sneeze or LOL with unexpected and misdirected force.

I can't open the files. :c( I wanna see so badly... I feel all alone and left out...

In vector!

Ill make it into JPEG, PSD for you if you like?

Btw, are you the Greg that was in my web design class? If so...

you know why peeps poke the screen? It is second nature to activate something with a click of the finger... Hint hint Tablet..... D@M it Apple Where is that Tablet !

HAHAH! You should have seen the smile on my face after me reading your article:) Sometimes i really can get reaaaly frustrated when a client dose that.
One time a guy started pointing at my ibook screen with a fineliner and he almost started poking it.... I made him put the top on the fineliner after a near collision.

www.aciddesign.nl www.aciddesign.nl/external/school/

my client f*cked up my laptop screen by his stupid finger pressing. He pressed so hard, I have dead pixels the shape of his stupid finger left off. Thanks a lot.

Awesome. Any chance of making high-quality vinyl stickers small enough to stick on the screen frame of a PowerBook?

Now THAT would be cool.

I'm usually treated as crazy, when I adivse people that I prefer they not touch my monitor. It's comforting to know, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Someone uploaded it at brandsoftheworld

man... i know the feeling...
i posted the article in my blog... as a warning to greasy fingers!

Invention : need to have a second mouse attached via usb that does not interact. that has a larger/different pointer icon on screen.

Then you could tell them just to use that mouse to point.....

shouldn't be too difficult to invent.

Awesome post!

(By the way, there's a typo - you misspelled "losing" in the fourth paragraph.)

Yeah - set your mind free!
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=loosing

The keyboard on my old TiBook keeps marking the screen when pressured, more annoying than finger prints, but finger prints are far harder to get out. I've made it policy to give someone an evil if they do.

P.S. Lint-free cloth and lens-cleaner are life savers :-).

Hehe. Every person who has ever given a demo on his/her computer probably knows this feeling. The sign's good, but I wish there was a switch to make the monitor give an electrostatic shock when people touch it. Maybe even a knob to increase the voltage. :P

Dude I feel your pain. I will for sure be pasting this to moniter. I guess I am not very shy. As soon as the finger or writing utensil gets within about four inches I ask the client to please stay away from the screen. I'm ruthless about my precious.

You are so right. I have to keep a constant eye on our screens. They say "why not, its not going to hurt anything!" Sometimes I want to show them its not going to be the screen that hurts. Breathe.

I use a powerbook. It has n LCD screen. Many of the clients I work with are suburban ladies with greasy hand lotion, acrylic nails and no clue how fragile an LCD screen is. When they wave those greasy, razor sharp talons nearer and nearer my screen, I just want to smack their hand away and yell at them that my laptop is probably worth more than their rent for three months. Because I know that the first "oops" touch won't damage it... But when they see that characteristic LCD ripple, i can guarantee they will not be able to get their hands off the screen. It drives me batty.

I know the feeling. It bothers me greatly too. There are many times I want to just scream at someone who is about to touch my monitor but I hold back in hopes that they will realise. Once someone touched it and it spoke to them about it and they were wondering "What's the big deal" and then I have to exlplain how EVIL it is do something like that. hehe. Thankfully no one has done it in a looooooooong time. So I'm all good.

Peace.

My boss does that all the time! Eevry time I just cringe and let out a sort of sad little peep. Then I whip out el trusty bottle of iClean and that gets rid of all the gunk.

</shameless plug>

I have to clean my screen a few times a week. i also have a two year old who occassionaly gets something on it.

I've been sufering in silence all this time, I work with maps (GIS) and it's a nightmare wen I present them and people start saing "what about if we change the color of this road...?" and they leave not just a finger print in my notebook's screem but a 'trail' all along that road.

This is great, can we have one to reminded cleaners not to uses abrasive cleaners on LCD screens ;)

Nice article! .. To save my monitor from dirty fingers and other body-parts, I've made a dedicated desktop-wallpaper, saying "never touch or lick the screen" :)

I flinch in anticipation, + have no problem blurting out a relatively calm but abrupt "don't touch the screen". It seems to command a respect for my authority + a "must know what I'm talking about" acceptance.

I had never thought about it before... Even now I must menuever my head to see around these... violations. BUT! I shall not put up with this anymore! My new computer WILL NOT be poked by the evil pokie people!

*Prints thingy out*

ps. That hand is a bit hairy...

I do find that having a can of screen cleaner and some wipes at hand quite usefull at making the point I don't it then you put your grubbly hands on my nice clean screen. At every screen touch, pause conversation, spray screen, wipe screen, tsk, resume conversation.

This thread hit the spot! I suggest also making the graphic into a card to hand out to offenders. 3 strikes and you're out – stand behind the white line buddy!

I recall watching a doco about the graphics in Terminator 2, at one point James Cameron grabs a pencil and drew a curve he wanted directly on the plush sgi monitor. I didn't see the animator reaching for his gun. In fact he looked happy that he had something concrete to work from.

Now if that was my own monitor I'd be pissed but, hey, as long as they pay for the thing they can spraypaint it for all I care.

I just bought some OmniClean from Radtech.us and it did wonders for cleaning the LCD screen of my PowerBook. Just another testamonial for the prodcut, no streaks or evidence of wiping!

Visit My Website!: - David Bailey - graphic artist - ONLINE PORTFOLIO -

Okay, it's a late entry, but for some reason I missed this one.

How about some good old "lazerrrr" that covers the screen area like desert fleas cover the underpants of bedouin nomad. Come close and that digit becomes divided! (hot enough to make the excess mess evaporate though, I don't want now blood on my powerbook.)

No seriously, this is the worst. (In second place the "Can't you just..." or "I'm sure it's not too difficult too just...")

I've arranged my working area in such a way that clients can't get to my screen. It's big enough, and with that awesome "zoom" tip, no more poking, i'll just zoom in!!

Francois de la Mintsauce
If it's not signed and sealed, it's not signed and sealed.