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lbaskin
Exactly. This is an extreme - and ever more prevalent - illustration of why I don't use air dryers in public restrooms. It also bothers when they says it's done to help the environment. Even if that's true (unlikely, but it saves money and generates good PR), it just makes the environment and those in it dirtier, which probably doesn't help most people.
superuser2
You can plant more trees. You can't un-burn the coal that spins the motor. (I wonder if there's a way of actually comparing the environmental impact, though).
midnitewarrior
Planting trees sequesters the CO2 that was emitted from the burning of the coal. Cutting trees down and turning them into paper that easily decomposes hastens the release of the previously sequestered CO2 back into the atmosphere, killing us all.

Every time you use a paper towel, you kill a puppy.

phpDie
This test was done with a hand dipped in a virus. When in real life this is only used after you wash your hands.

That doesn't seem like a very accurate test IMO.

Science.

blacksmith_tb
I read that as suggesting that the concentration of viruses in the dipping solution was intended to produce a coating comparable to someone who hadn't washed their hands much at all. I wonder how much energy (so to speak) has been put into using a strong vacuum, either by itself or with a blower, to dry hands. Filtering that airflow wouldn't be too difficult, though obviously more expensive.
geoelectric
The degree of dispersion should be the same, though, right? It's just that with a lower starting density you end up with a lower ending density. But the relative performance of the methods would still be valid.
wodenokoto
if the starting density is insignificant, then the ending density is insignificant.

we expect hands washed in soap to be clean enough to handle food, so they damned well be clean enough to breathe nearby!

cpncrunch
My main grievance with Dyson dryers it that it's difficult keeping your hands in the little narrow gap while the jet is blasting your hands, without touching the sides. It kind of defeats the point if you end up touching the dryer.

It seems like a case of form over function.

oxplot
Yep, but I found over time that I tense my arm muscles before going in and now can keep them fairly steady in the middle without touching. Call it a learning curve I guess.
cpncrunch
I think it indicates a serious UX problem if users need to do something like that.
oxplot
I agree. This is not vim, it's a hand dryer. User should be able to master it on the first use.

This can be fixed by measuring user's hand proximity to both sides and adjusting the air jet flow to keep their hand in the middle.

gaur
It should be illegal to have a restroom without paper towels (or equivalent).
pixel_fcker
So that's what's been causing people to drop dead after going to the bathroom!