Keep the iPad Screen Clean

NOW THAT YOU’VE HAD your iPad tour, you probably realize that there’s one part of the gadget that’s very, very important to the whole post-PC, tablet-computing experience.

Yes, like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad’s glass touchscreen is the main way you communicate with the slab. Each time you surf the Web or send some email, your fingers tap, slide, and flick across its smooth surface. Do this sort of thing on a normal piece of glass and you end up with a smudged and sticky window, gunked up from finger grease, moisturizer, and whatever else you may have on your hands.

Thanks to a special coating (explained in the Note on the opposite page), the iPad’s screen tries to repel fingerprints. But with enough use, even that has its limits; your screen begins to look like a small child has been eating glazed doughnuts and touching your iPad repeatedly—with both hands. Here’s what you should—and shouldn’t—do to keep your iPad screen fresh and clean.