Kim Ode has a story in the Star Tribune about a hand dryer from Dyson called the Airblade that supposedly revolutionizes the hand dryer industry. I must admit to coming at this article with some skepticism after using Xlerator hand dryers in the past:

A 400-mph stream of air is blown through a gap no thicker than an eyelash, acting like “an invisible windshield wiper,” drying hands in 12 seconds, “a full 10 seconds faster than any other hand dryer.” A special filter removes “more than 99.9% of the bacteria from the air used to dry hands. It uses up to 80 percent less energy than traditional hand dryers because the pressure of the air eliminates the need for heat.

It looks pretty awesome, but the article fails to mention that the Xlerator has been around for years and seems to do a similar job as this one. For example, here’s Ben from BenCredible.com using an Xlerator at Brit’s Pub back in March:

One may assume from the article that the comparison is to a typical World Dryer “Press Butt” hand dryer, but they’re actually pitching against the Xlerator model, claiming they can dry your hands 10 seconds faster than the Xlerator.

Ode mentions that the AMC Southdale movie theater has Dyson hand dryers installed. That’s a big step above the crappy hand dryers at the Uptown Theater where even the management is so embarrased by how they treat their customers that they’ve put up a sign apologizing.

Uptown Theater Hand Dryer Sign

They even blame the environment rather than stepping up to the Xlerator or Dyson models that actually work. Sad.