Originally Posted by
84fiero
While it's no doubt true that there are more electronic gadgets, cords, etc. in carry-ons than there were in the "ancient past"...and it I can buy that this has some impact to looking at the x-ray images for weapons or bombs (or what magnitude I've no idea)...
...But the proliferation of personal electronics in carry-on bags has been this way for years. Yet they want us to believe that they just recently discovered that their machines and operators are having trouble with that?
Well, that's one thing I could accept as true - that a problem takes five to ten years to get from the rank-and-file TSO up the line to the leadership before something is done to 'correct' it.
We've actually known about the electronics issue for a while. For years, standard advice to infrequent travelers has been to pack their bags neatly, wind up cables, and use bags with multiple compartments to organize their electronics. This makes it safer to pull a bag with camera and computer gear through a crowded airport (stuff won't bounce and bump together if organized neatly in compartmentalized bags), but it also makes the x-ray image more coherent for the operator, so he's less likely to call for hand inspection because he can recognize more of the bags contents as harmless and permitted.
On the other hand, if you've thrown your crap randomly into a backpack, with devices, batteries, and a rat's nest of cables floating around at random, the image is more confusing, and the operator is more likely to call for hand inspection.
Of course, you're also more likely to have a hand inspection if your bag contains certain types of objects like books or granola bars or water bottles, regardless of how neatly it's packed.