Toward A Cleaner Desktop With A Self-Disinfecting Mouse

IOGEAR aims to protect users from bacteria with a mouse that sterilizes itself

First they made the famous mouse-ball obsolete with lasers. Now, if the idea of a bacteria-ridden desktop makes your skin crawl, you now have a first line of defense, and your white knight is IOGEAR.

Via Slashdot, and announced via press release by LEWIS Wire, IOGEAR’s Germ Free Wireless Laser Mouse is a special critter indeed:

Citing a recent study that seems to claim that the average desktop has 400 times more bacteria than that average toilet seat, the mouse is positioned (no pun intended) as a solution for oft-touched peripheral devices in high-traffic public areas (especially schools and libraries) to limit the spread of possibly harmful microbes in such areas.

The mouse is available now from IOGEAR (via website, catalog, and “selected retail outlets”) for the modest street price of $39.95. Whether it has legs remains to be seen, but we can’t help but wonder: if a self-cleaning mouse has finally come to market, will paid telephone sanitizers be too far down the road?