Which is Dirtier: Keyboard or Toilet Seat?

First, it was the scare that electro-magnetic radiation emitted by computer monitors may cause skin rashes and abnormal pregnancies. Now you have to worry about catching a virus or staph infection from your computer keyboard or mouse (the pointing device).

But have no fear, a newsletter -- Washable Keyboard News -- just announced that it will "keep industry stakeholders abreast of current information that will help them to equip their home or work environments with appropriate technology for mitigating the transmission of these germs."

Unotron's Washable Corded Standard Keyboard

The newsletter is published by Unotron, "an emerging company that designs and manufactures high quality, washable data input and security devices that can be easily cleaned and disinfected to maximize user safety and minimize risk in nearly any environment," according to its Web site. Unotron tells us this unsettling factoid: "PC keyboards harbor more than 3,000 microbes per square inch - as compared to toilet seats' 49."

The site also has individual sections for health care, education, commercial and government. Seems as if viruses are sector specific, although the copy for each section is identical. Although we learn that the company will soon introduce smart card readers and fingerprint readers will soon use the company's SpillSeal® technology. Just in time for HSPD-12.