As you'll recall the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) was hard at work, hoping to avoid making another MacBook Air owner miss their flight (the security people didn't know what to make of the x-ray images of the MacBook Air). The TSA got their hands on a MacBook Air for some testing, and ran it through one of their test x-rays machines. Lo and behold, the solid state drive made the MacBook Air look different than traditional notebooks (though in what way, the TSA can't say).
The long and the short of it is that the TSA is distributing printouts of the MacBook Air's x-ray to screeners across the country so they know what to look for. I feel more secure already.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-24-2008 @ 2:37PM
davidmcgookin said...
Hmm the internals of the Air are top secret! Glad no one has opened an air or shown very large images of its internals on a large projector screen at a large public media event then!
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 2:59PM
jpa said...
Let me guess no visible HDD platters and a tight grouping of IC chips? hope they don't come after me for ruining the big secret.
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 3:11PM
Brad Adams said...
If you check further down the blog you'll see where they have a Delete-O-Meter to track how many comments they delete. I understand the need to remove spam and inappropriate comments. I find it hilarious that the government is bragging about how many comments they are deleting.
http://www.crumbsinthebutter.com/blog
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 3:16PM
Edsel said...
Before everyone jumps down TSA's throat, consider this.
The AIR 64Gb has a relatively small circuit board with a couple wires leading to a very large self-contained dense mass (the battery). That's it. No moving parts to speak of, certainly nothing that screams "hard drive" or an array of ports to speak of.
It's all about pattern recognition - be happy the TSA has taken interest in this.
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 3:34PM
serenity said...
I do find it odd that they haven't seen a laptop with an SSD before. It's not like the Air is the first one, even though it's probably the most popular one by now.
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 4:30PM
artifex said...
All the other computers with SSDs at least had optical drives, right?
3-24-2008 @ 4:06PM
Mike said...
Remember the famous words of Senator Tom Daschle - "To Professionalize, you must Federalize".
Thank g-d for those professional TSA employees and their professionalized management structure. Its only a shame that the unprofessional folks at Apple Computers dared to produce such a device that might compromise our nation's interests. If only the government would take over the design and manufacturing of our computers. Until then, Apple really should rename the Mac Book Pro to the Mac Book Civilian.
We got the last laugh on Daschle though: No Apple stores in South Dakota!
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 4:29PM
Furies said...
I'd feel safer if Gorillas were checking me for bananas. It is a shame though that the MacBook Air wasn't actually an I.E.D...would have given the government an excuse to search and confiscate even more of our belongings; g-d knows they need them more than we do ;)
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 4:36PM
Manuel Martensen said...
When will custom made MBA’s with solid state C4 harddrives hit the markets?
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 5:27PM
Startled Gnu said...
"Thank g-d", "g-d knows"? When did 'god' become a four-letter word?
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 6:22PM
thethirdmoose said...
gawd?
3-25-2008 @ 8:39AM
Dan Oblak - MacBigot.com said...
"When did 'god' become a four-letter word?"
About the same year we stopped capitalizing it.
3-25-2008 @ 9:42AM
Dan S. said...
In the hebrew tradition, it's forbidden to use the name of God in a frivolous manner or in a location that may later be destroyed or defaced, so most jews and a number of christians write "G-d" as a precaution.
3-24-2008 @ 7:48PM
Mike M said...
I have had the MBA since about 2 weeks after it was launched. I can say that I have flown internationally, in and around NYC, Washington DC, and more and have never had an issue with my MBA. I have the SSD option and not sure if that makes any difference or not.
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 8:21PM
Kevin said...
Damn. The only reason I clicked that link was to see what the x-ray looked like.
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 8:46PM
Shawn said...
I'm with Kevin. Someone x-ray an air and post a picture on their blog or something. Thanks in advance!
3-24-2008 @ 9:45PM
Tom said...
Quick, hide the XRay images! They are a security threat!!!
Seriously, why do they think this is a security threat, when 10 seconds of google use pulled up these two images:
http://www.powerbook-fr.com/IMG/jpg/PowerBook17.jpg
http://stuff.ratjed.com/powerbook_xray.jpg
Sure, neither of those aren't the Air, but they prove that *gasp*, people out there have access to Xray machines. Or screwdrivers for that matter.
*sigh*
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 11:19PM
Louie Mantia said...
He said backslash, but clearly, it's just a slash. :P
Reply
3-25-2008 @ 7:05AM
cs said...
Come on people. It isn't that it is a secrety what the xRays look like. What they don't want to release is *what* got their attention, how it differes from what they consider a normal laptop, etc. Pointing out what they look for tells the *bad guys* what not to make theirs real bombs to look like. And pointing out what passes the quick glance sanity check shows them how to make it look legit. It isn't about what an xRay look like to you and me. Stop reading into things thinking they just don't want to show an xRay.
Reply
3-25-2008 @ 11:58AM
Jeremy Brooks said...
The TSA is a joke. Every time I fly, I am stunned by the amount of cash being wasted by the government to construct this elaborate security theatre. Isn't it nice that they provide Magic Terrorist Prevention Bags for travelers to put their Dangerous Liquids into? I was shocked that our flight didn't spontaneously explode when I realized that my lens cleaning fluid was in my backpack the whole time and not in a Magic Terrorist Prevention Bag!
Reply