A passenger, Michael Nygard, was held up at security due to his MacBook Air.
“If these trained apes can’t recognize a laptop because of such basic ignorance, how are they supposed to recognize a bomb? We aren’t made safer by these “security precautions”, we are just inconvenienced into thinking someone is trying to make is safe. - njfuzzy”
Hehe, that comment made me laugh.
The same thing happened to me when I went back to Bangladesh for my brother’s wedding. This was during the time when the very first iPod (5gig) came out. The security at JFK stopped me because I had my iPod in my carry-on and they didn’t know what it was. They also didn’t know what a mp3 player was either.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
in my case, I got held up for having an amp for my guitar in my carry-on. I guess that’s reasonable though, a 1 ft cubed electronic box is kinda shady.
however, macbook air? bombs sure have gotten compact, they can fit in an envelope!
Ummm… actually, they can fin in an envelope, or in this case, a MAC air laptop. That’s probably why the TSA officer stopped to take a second look at the thin electronic device which they’ve never seen before.
… just saying!
really i find that quite vary true. Security is not all that affective and it really does differ how strict they are from airport to air port; I’ve actually gone through security with matches and lighters (with out realizing it till later granted) and other things that light on fire really easily.
Hey security is never perfect. I don’t work in the field that they do, but I work somewhere close along those line. I feel better knowing that someone took a chance and took a look at the device then just push it through. Trust me, you’d rather want that kind of guy checking out items for YOUR plane that your flying on.
Speaking of Apple… You may have seen this. But if you haven’t, I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you do for the first time. 0:D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI&NR=1
that jerk-off!!! he could have given it to me, talk about a waste of a perfectly good iphone
OH GAWD, WHY!!!! :cries:…that poor poor iphone…
When I saw the first few seconds of this, I though, “Hey the iPhone is pretty durable!”, and then the next few seconds came. Then the tears. Oh dear Lord.
Twitch twitch twitch twitch.
*twitch* *cringe* *falls over*
The worst part? The black plastic (and metal?) smoke. That can’t be good for you… Well, it did blend alright….
o.0
The horror…..the horror….
Waaaaahahahahahahaha!
I’m watching it over and over again… The video isn’t really all that great, but I can *feel* the Mac-fanboys screaming, and it’s like music to my ears…
Then may your ears bleed…;{
I laughed. I love this guy so much!
Wish he’d do that to an Ipod. Useless things. I’d prefer a plug and play USB Mp3 player any day.
Actually…he does do it to an iPod. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=8344739
I’m so pleased to see that I can cause havoc and mayhem. First, Apple lovers. Next, the WORLD!!! [Que maniacal laughter]
Why even bother with security? It will never stop a bomb. Never. If some guy walks up there with a bulky device, duct taped, and wires hanging out, the security will let him through if he tells them it’s an mp3 player because they’re too stupid to know it. Just try it.
Security has nearly killed people who’ve done that so you are wrong about that.
Just say you’re the personal representative for Steve Jobs and that the Mac Air is a new design to be announced at MacWorld. That should take care of things. Unless they arrest you for corporate espionage.
I’m both saddened and dismayed. But it’s understandable. It’s still quite new to most people and the idea that a laptop can come in that size is quite fascinating. :P Look at me using big words and proper language. XD
Love the new comic. I have a friend that works the “Thats what she said” joke into everything he can.
Also, lol. Airport security needs to watch more TV. They aired the MacBook Air like crazy. Even -I- pondered getting one since I need a small silent, preferably portable at times, computer for running a program while I sleep since my gaming PC is way too loud. Unfortunately it also needs to run Windows for the program I need to run 24/7 only runs on it.
Creative Nomad… one of the very first MP3 players on the market (so far as I know)… confounded the security people way back in 1999. Ahh… over $200 for 32MB of storage… those were the days.
nooo kidding. I remember when my Dad got one of those for a christmas present - although I think it was a Rio - 32 meg though.
my dad works at an airport… once a guy walked up to him with a hunting knife asking if he should really have it… My dad said of course not and went straight to TSA to find out how this could happen… This is when he was told it was all about the appearance of security. They really are just Thousands Standing Around…
EPIC FAIL! Honestly that could not have been that difficult to figure out while the macbook air is big enough to be a bomb it is not big enough to be an effective bomb and a laptop at the same time.
I was taking my old NES through Dulles when I was flying to San Jose once; 20 year old girl running the x-ray didn’t know what it was and called someone else over for help with it. Guy came over and laughed his ass off as he waved me through.
Seriously, they should at least have a list of new consumer technologies. I have to go through security all the time, and they searched my bag for 15 minutes because I had my CD player, batteries, and four text books in the same bag. Apparently, in America, Literature and Classical music is Terrorist material. And this was is 2000. Though the illusion of security can sometimes prevent the average copycat or wannabe (or give the illusion of so?), I doubt a serious terrorist or agent of espionage will be so easily spurred. Scares me to death of how easy things can be if you apply some brain power.
You expect a government agency to stay on top of technology? HA! our latest technologically advanced fighter is powered by a 400MHz P2. Let’s face it, we’re going to see a lot more situations like this arise, because most of the people in the TSA can’t tell a Zune from an iPod.
now about those new laptops….wow. the size is incredible! i saw one on display at best buy, and i am impressed. my only concern is the amount of heat it can generate. the one i saw looked as though it had been running for a bit, and it was quite hot to the touch on the bottom. but for the size, it’s to be expected.
Compass that is the most idiotic comparison I’ve ever heard. Processor speed may be important to an uber 133t technogeek but it isn’t for all applications.
It not your processor speed, its how you use it.
Actually, the computers built for advanced warfare work completely differently from conventional pcs, resistance to physical and electric shocks being the biggest concern. Bomb defuing robots don’t even have hard drives.
Speaking of bombs, the volume of nitro that i could smuggle in a laptop is enough to seriously damage a commercial aircraft. The point of freedom is understanding that on some level, you just have to trust that i’m not gonna do it.
The processors used in military applications typically have to be “hardened” against radiation (e.g. radar). This process takes as much (if not more) time than it took to develop the original processor. So, I’m not at all surprised that the fighter in question is powered by a P2.
Indeed. Did you know the MER (Mars Exploration Rovers - Spirit and Opportunity) work on a 20 Mhz processor? Dude, that’s only a little higher than the clock speed of my TI-89. It’s quite surprising at first glance, but then again, it takes time to harden a processor - you don’t want a stray cosmic ray destroying a multi-million dollar spacecraft (or aircraft, or missile, or so on…) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover#Power_and_electronic_systems)
I heard on a documentary somewhere that the processing power was so low that the flight engineers were worried that the CPU couldn’t handle all the data/calculations during the entry into the Martian atmosphere. Pretty amazing when you think about it.
You know, that was the only thing that I could think of at the time that would make even the slightest bit of sense to you guys. I could say that most of our “high tech” planes use a POS GPS system which takes roughly 8 minutes Time To First Fix (your hand held GPS has around a 60 second TTFF) and that’s only IF the almanac is good. If this system dumps the almanac in flight, you can pretty much forget about using GPS navigation for the next 3 to 4 hours. Oh, and here’s the skinny on that processor - it isn’t that it’s “hardened” or modified in any way. The processor was the best available when they designed the system. Had they done it a year sooner that plane would be flying with 200MHz Dual Pentium Pros with a 1MB L2 cache (that’s Socket 7 for you IBM users).
Maybe that makes a little more sense as to how “behind the times” the government is with technology.
I once got stopped because I had the dock for my iphone in my bag. I guess it showed up on the x-ray as a giant hunk of metal. While going through my bag the agent saw my flashlight. It’s a surefire. They make military grade, amazing lights. She was about to go on about it when another one walked up and started complimenting me on it.
Goes to show how people are so scared these days…. But a Mac Book Air? Real skiddish i say. I gues it’s a lesson learned.
These comments are hilarious..but it makes sense that security would be all “Wtf?”. It is still very new and there’s no way they’d be up-to-date on technology. That’s too much work.
This is freakin insane. Do these security guards not have a TV. I mean when Air came out Apple was running ads on every channel. These people are just too damn stupid to know what a computer looks like.
(Imatating guards voice)
What’s a computer? 0_0
this just proves america is half full of idiots and most of them are in government or in the airports
Haha! Thanks for picking up this artcile with my comment, very flattering.
I’m not sure why you are all picking on air port security. One person is pissed of because they were pulled aside, boo hoo, who hasn’t? I was traveling with a hang board how many of you know what that is, I’m willing to be not many. They’re just doing their job the best they can. To call them an idiot reflects your own pathetic outlook on life and people.
As pointed out elsewhere, these people are trained to look for certain things. So when they saw a laptop going in they expected to find a hard drive and motherboard. When they saw something completely different from their training, they went “hold the phone, now!” Granted, a little common sense and a few questions (even turning the thing on) would have solved that. Nevertheless, that’s how they spot things. Bank tellers are trained the same way. They learn how real dollar bills look and feel so when a counterfeit comes their way, they spot it immediately.
And I think you could pack enough C4 into a MBA to punch a hole in the side of a plane. Their concerns are legitimate, but applying a little common sense never hurt, either.
Simple solution to all this–quit flying. Take a bus, train, or other similar form of transportation. Unfortunately, probably the only way to get this kind of silliness reined in is to let it hit the airlines in their weak spot–the wallet. Cut into their bottom line enough by having people *avoid* using them due to TSA antics, and they’ll start putting their collective feet down.
I just took a glange at my lego and thought,” Would the security look at my lego if it looks like a military item?” Trust me, people have made rubberband P-90s out of lego, M16s, Ak-47s. I’ll laugh my ass off if they “Confiscate” my lego…
Well, doesn’t surprise me as its standard protocol to REMOVE your personal computers from carry-on luggage…Happened to me from Toronto to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Minneapolis and Minneapolis to Toronto….but even still you would hope that they have seen enough laptops to know what one scans like >_<
I once got held up because of my cd player. Yep. CD player. You know, the little handheld ones with the headphones (back before they had those newfangled ipods).
But you know, some of the simplest (or most complex) electronics can power bombs (at least according to popular television, lol), and I doubt it’s THAT much of a stretch to make something nefarious look like harmless, everyday electronics. Airport security obviously is not going to know how to distinguish new electronics — brand-name or otherwise — from home-made bombs until they actually see some of the new electronics react to their sensors (tv commercials obviously don’t show how something will look in an x-ray machine or react to their fume sniffers). The crappy part is that your first time through that line just might be the first time they see… whatever it is you have. And yeah that will make it take longer to get you through the line, but that is the price we pay for mainstream America’s petty little fears of terrorism.