Personally I prefer the hand dryers to the towels in a public bathroom. I usually will turn them on with my elbow though so that I will not touch the button after I wash my hands. Which is why I prefer the hand dryers that will automatically go on without having to touch them. I always wondered why they were not all like that. People will spend all that time washing there hands for them to literally get FULL of germs with in minutes of them getting finished washing them.