The MacBook Air's thin design is causing some confusion for the technically ignorant, according to one blogger who says that the ultra-portable caused him to miss his flight. When going through the TSA airport security checkpoint, blogger Michael Nygard was held up as security staff gathered around his MacBook Air, trying to make sense of the slender laptop. One of the less technically knowledgeable staff points out the lack of standard features as cause for alarm.
"I'm standing, watching my laptop on the table, listening to security clucking just behind me," Nygard recalls of the situation. "'There's no drive," one says. 'And no ports on the back. It has a couple of lines where the drive should be,' she continues."
Nygard was made to wait until a younger agent came over to the gathering to inform his comrades of their error, that it is indeed a laptop and not a "device". After making three attempts to describe the concept of a flash-based hard drive, security lets Nygard through the checkpoint, only to go back to the service center to rebook, as his flight had since left.
Really weird! Poor guy, he missed the flight because of the laptop.
Great, so if these fools are so technically inept. How can we expect them to know what an actual bomb looks like?
Lovely. I agree with Caesar. I want my airport security well-trained, not lowest bid.
That's what happens when you make a useless product... It DOES look pretty suspicious
So, the absence of a disk drive and ports makes it look like a suspicious device. What prevents a suspicious device from having ports a disk drive, and a hard drive? It's stupid. If terrorist wanted to pass something through security, they would make it look like a standard devicxe.
That's why TSA really stands for "Too Stupid for Arby's" ... that's right folks, these people couldn't even get jobs in the fast food industry.
Ceaser makes an excellent point. If they can't keep up with the latest technological advances on laptops, which futhermore are PUBLICISED, how can we trust that they're aware of the latest advances in bombs? They thought they were pretty savvy with the "liquid bombs," but I bet the next laughing terrorist is gonna smuggle a flash-drive-based bomb or something on board... won't that be great...!
You have to admit, though, that it's a good catch to look at a device and say, "This is missing its ports. A laptop needs ports to function. It might be a bomb disguised as a laptop." But, again, these guards' training should be up-to-date enough that they are AWARE of devices on the market that might trip off their red flags. Be AWARE that MacBook Airs have no ports... and AWARE that all other brands do, so a terrorist can't point that teh Airport's MacBook Air advertisement and say, "Yeah, this portless generic computer I have? Just like the MacBook Air." Boom. Be AWARE of what legitimate cellphones look like the tasers designed to look like cellphones. Then, you won't be distracted by someone's Razr while some terrorist breezes by with a bomb housed in the chassis of an actual Dell.
Finally, though, I would like to give a standing ovation to every dumbass out there who sprang for a MacBook Air, choosing a thin and trendy design over functionality, speed, durability, and memory. Good job, guys. Remember that just 'cuz it's advanced doesn't mean it's a better computer. I'm sticking with my "Fat Mac," thanks!
Post new comment