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                                                                                           TECHNOLOGY Thursday 23 March 2017


















             For some airline passengers, new warnings bring new hurdles



            BARBARA ORTUTAY
             AP Technology Writer
            NEW YORK (AP) — As far as
            the  indignities  of  modern
            air travel go, the latest ban
            on laptops and tablets on
            some  international  flights
            falls  somewhere  between
            taking your shoes off at the
            security  checkpoint  and
            having  your  baby  food
            and  milk  tested  for  bomb
            residue.
            It’s yet another impediment
            in the name of security for
            already weary travelers, es-
            pecially those from or pass-
            ing  through  the  10  mostly
            Middle  Eastern  and  North
            African  countries  covered
            by new U.S. and British poli-
            cies. While not quite as dis-
            ruptive as an outright ban
            on  smartphones  —  much
            less a travel ban based on
            nationality  —  the  restric-
            tions loom large for some.
            “Why are only Middle East-   In this Jan. 15, 2015, file photo, a new Qatar Airways Airbus A350 approaches the gate at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany.
            ern  airlines  subject  to  this                                                                                                Associated Press
            ban?”  asked  Kelsey  Nor-
            man,  a  doctoral  student
            who  plans  to  fly  home  Fri-  smartphones,  duffel  bags,  Northwestern University.  or  cleaning  up  inboxes.  were widely circulated vid-
            day  to  Los  Angeles  from   coats, small bottles of hand  For  those  who  must,  there  In-flight  Wi-Fi  is  required  to  eos of Note 7s bursting into
            Beirut  —  and  expects  to   lotion,   snacks,   earplugs  are  ways  to  do  a  limited  send or receive emails.  flames. There was no doubt
            have to check her laptop,    and other small items.       amount  of  work  without  If travelers need downtime,  that  this  would  be  bad
            a  Kindle  tablet  and  her   LOST PRODUCTIVITY           laptops,  tablets  or  other  there  is  always  Netflix  or  thing at 30,000 feet.
            DSLR camera. “Overall this   Some,  particularly  business  electronics.               Amazon.  Users  can  down-   The potential danger cited
            policy  is  inconvenient,  dis-  travelers, see the potential  AWKWARD WORKAROUNDS     load  content  to  a  smart-  by  the  U.S.  and  the  U.K.  is
            criminatory, and continues   for theft, damage or com-    It  possible  to  transfer  im-  phone  before  leaving  so  more ambiguous.
            to  hurt  America’s  rapidly   promised  data  if  they  are  port documents to Google  that it’s easily accessible.  Yet even for some travelers
            deteriorating   reputation   forced  to  check  laptops.  Docs  and  do  some  work  AT LEAST IT’S NOT PHONES       who  do  not  mind  stowing
            globally.”                   The  anxiety  is  real  enough  on a smartphone. Features  Laptops  and  other  gad-   away  laptops  to  abide  by
            BAN LOGIC                    that  there  were  attempts  can  be  limited  for  some  gets play only a supporting  the new rules, there is some
            New  restrictions  from  the   to  reroute  flights  to  other  apps;  Microsoft’s  Office  role to the smartphone for  apprehension.
            U.S. Department of Home-     airports  immediately  after  app, for instance, allows us-  many travelers. Yet even in  Nick  Lieber,  a  dual  U.S.-
            land  Security  prohibit  the   the ban was announced.    ers to open only one docu-   cases  where  there  are  re-  Israeli  citizen  living  in  Jeru-
            transportation  in  carry-on   Banu  Akdenizli,  a  native  ment at a time.            strictions  on  smartphones,  salem, plans an April trip to
            baggage  of  laptop  com-    of  Turkey,  said  that  being  These  apps  are  good  at least in the most recent  Chicago that will take him
            puters,   tablets,   Kindles,   forced to fly 17 hours with-  enough  for  simple  proof-  and notable example, the  through  Amman,  Jordan,
            some    gaming    devices,   out her laptop will cost her  reading and minor editing,  reasons were clear.          and  therefore  subject  him
            cameras  and  other  elec-   precious time to work and  but  will  leave  users  want-  Last fall, Samsung asked us-  to the ban. He doesn’t an-
            tronics larger than a smart-  to  prepare  for  a  confer-  ing  when  more  complex  ers  of  its  fire-prone  Galaxy  ticipate having to do work
            phone.  The  U.S.  govern-   ence.                        tasks are required. The text  Note  7  to  “power  down  on  his  laptop  during  the
            ment  cited  unspecified     “It  might  seem  trivial  to  a  will also be small on smart-  and stop using the device”  flight.
            threats  as  the  reason.  The   lot of people, but what you  phones,  though  there  is  a  on planes. (The phone was  But  he  worries  about  lap-
            U.K.  government  instituted   get from these parts of the  way  to  temporarily  refor-  later banned, and then re-  top  lithium-ion  batteries  —
            a similar ban; neither gov-  world  are  usually  business  mat text to accommodate  called.)                       which  have  been  blamed
            ernment’s  restrictions  af-  travelers,”  said  Akdenizli,  smaller displays.         One  big  difference  with  for  past  aircraft  fires  —
            fect U.S. airlines.          an  associate  professor  of  One  simple  task  that  can  that  ban  and  today’s  re-  stored in the plane’s cargo
            People  can  still  bring  with   communications  at  the  be done on a smartphone  gionally based restrictions is  hold.  “I’m  a  nervous  flyer
            them to their seat items like   Doha,  Qatar,  campus  of  is communicating via email  that with the Galaxy, there  already,” Lieber said.q
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