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FDA Approves Self-Sanitizing Keyboard

jfruhlinger writes "Deep down, most people know that the germiest thing they touch all day is the thing they're touching all day: their keyboard. But what, if anything, can be done about it? A couple of former Microsoft hardware guys have launched a keyboard that sterilizes itself via ultraviolet light. While the FDA has signed off on it, tests show that the UV only kills about two-thirds of the germs living in it, and that it still needs to be cleaned by hand."

3 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Can't wait to see... by SpazmodeusG · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just make it with the same antibacterial metal that door handles in hospitals are made from. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrobial_copper-alloy_touch_surfaces

    Seems to be a tried and testing technology that works well.

  2. Re:Who cleans their keyboard? by adolf · · Score: 3, Informative

    The black ones turn just as gross: Take one apart sometime and have a look inside.

    The wife's WoW-playing machine slowly developed some issues with the W and 2 keys on her fancy Saitek keyboard. It was really pretty nasty in there. Some scrubbing bubbles for the external plastic bits, and a bit of Deoxit on the Mylar membrane switches, and she's got people asking her what she changed because her DPS went through the roof.

    I take apart my favorite keyboard (an old, heavy, squishy white NMB that I really like the key-feel of, Model M be damned) once every year or two and give everything but the keyswitches a good wash in the dishwasher. It's been a good friend for nearly a decade, despite the occasional spill or cigarette ash or the constant bombardment of smoke residue, and I want to keep it around. (The keycaps were worn smooth long ago...)

    So, yeah: I clean keyboards. Time is money, but money can't always buy a keyboard that I actually like. It's more of a functional thing than a spastic reaction to the obvious bacterial flora that obviously must be living on it, but whatever the case cleaning it helps me type in ways that keep me happy.

  3. Re:Can't wait to see... by milkmage · · Score: 4, Informative

    waterproof, sealed, dishwasher safe, antimicrobial keyboards.
    http://www.sealshield.com/

    $149 with a touchpad vs. $900 because it comes with lights?