3M Privacy Filters for laptops. Slap this on your screen and stop peeping Toms getting a look at your private notebook data. Around $29.95. And yes, TFT LCD screens originally took off because of their wide viewing angle vs DSTN. Go figure.
True story. I’m on a recent press trip to the US to visit a large tech company, and just happen to end up sitting next to a seriously senior exec of the same company. He doesn’t know me from Adam and no words are exchanged, and he proceeds to spend the whole trip working on his laptop. No problem you think. Only thing is, I can read lots of stuff on his screen, and for several hours I am inadvertently given access to some rather sensitive data including news that his operation was really tanking and under huge pressure. No, I didn’t want to read it (trying to watch movies with a laptop screen flashing in your peripheral vision is not fun), but had no choice. He really needed one of these filter things. Or a different job. Or both. The moral of the story? Always assume that the scruffily dressed Ferret sitting next to you is a technology journalist who can do your company irreparable harm if he’s so inclined.