Originally Posted by txscreen
Laptops and DVD players do not have the same components (educate yourself before posting nonsense).
When you have a laptop and all your other electronic crap that goes with a laptop in the bag together we can not see through it all. If you didnt have to remove the laptop then we would have to do it after xraying the bag, then rerun it through the xray, thus making everyone else delayed because of you.
Just because you dont have the knowledge necessary to understand the reasoning does not mean that there is no reason. Security procedures make sense, you just dont understand them.
Actually, txscreen, I have a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. How about you? And, I can assure you that with the exception of a disk drive, the components in a DVD player are nearly the same as in a laptop computer. They both have memory, microprocessors, LCD screens, and video display systems. And, many laptops today approach the small size of DVD players or other electronic devices. As I said, I regularly carry a radio in my carry-on baggage. What *is* so special about laptop computers other than ten years ago they were a rarity, so they deserved special attention?
Personally, my opinion is that the shoe and laptop dance at security checkpoints is all for show...to make grandma and grandpa feel good about flying. And, the fact that the rest of the world doesn't find it necessary for passengers to partially undress, and to unpack laptops, just speaks to American arrogance...which we've been seeing a lot of lately.