LICK THAT ATM: Diebold and Corning debug displays

Ponder, for a moment, whether the person ahead of you in the queue to use an automatic teller machine (ATM) washed their hands after their last visit to the bathroom. What's that you say? You'll use your card instead? Can't blame you: the prospect of mashing your hands on touch-screens or buttons used by who-knows-how-many …

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm impressed.

..I need this in my life. After decades of getting sick from using ATM's, at last an answer. Finally I can remove my non-latex gloves, but the mask will have to stay for now.

[Anonymous Coward]

Since it's Diebold

perhaps they'd consider spending more time worrying about the bugs in their software and less on the ones on the screen?

[DJO]

Re: Since it's Diebold

perhaps they'd consider spending more time worrying about the bugs in their software and less on the ones on the screen?

But, but, that would be hard work for Diebold rather than just asking Corning to bung a little silver or copper into the surface layer of the glass.

[Anonymous Coward]

So... you use the anti-microbed cash machine to receive cash that has been around thousands of people...

Someone needs to come out with some kind of completely contactless payment option.

[Sir Awesome]

Am I the only one who has never seen a touchscreen cash machine? All the buttons are on a keypad below the screen, and you push the buttons off to the side of a screen, so what difference would this make?

[lee harvey osmond]

puzzled

Huh? This is The Register, and we begin with "whether the person ahead of you ... washed their hands after their last visit to the bathroom", and later go on to mention brownouts, but without any pun-tastic attempt to link the two?

[Graham Marsden]

Hmm...

Ford Prefect: ”Golgafrincham Ark Fleet. Ship B. Hold Seven: Telephone Sanitizer, Second Class.” And a serial number!"

Arthur Dent: ”Telephone Sanitizer”? A dead telephone sanitizer?"

Ford Prefect: "Best kind."

[Captain Scarlet]

Oh Blast

Now after reading the first sentence I'll have to wash my hands every time I use a Cashpoint!

[Martin Gregorie]

...reducing power requirements to 24v

Errrm, quoting voltage tells us nothing about the power this ATM uses when running. Power is measured in watts, not volts.

Since low power consumption is evidently a spiffy new feature in the ATM world, how about an update telling us how much power this new design uses? Including current ATM power consumption as well would be nice, so we can tell whether the new machine is truly wonderful or merely germicidal.

[Peter27x]

Re: ...reducing power requirements to 24v

I can't wait to see banks being told by the EU to ditch ATMs because they aren't A-Rated and use too much energy...

[Swarthy]

So...

No word on moving the USB ports to somewhere less accessible, or disabling them unless provided with administrator credentials? or any of the other attack vectors on ATMs?

Nope, just a new anti-microbial (that may or may not be anti-microbial) glass fitted to ATMs.

[Anonymous Coward]

How about for smartphones?

I imagine this will be a feature touted on smartphones soon, and fanboys will slag the competition for having old fashion germ ridden screens.

[Roj Blake]

Hangover

So that nasty headache and dodgy stomach that I had on Saturday was from the ATM where I got my Friday night beer money?

[Ol'Peculier]

Keypad

The Nationwide ATM I use has a touch screen, but the keypad is where they normally are, so even if it was one of these, I'd still be keying in my PIN on the pad below.