It is possible that other countries may impose additional restrictions but, at this time, they have not and any suggestion that they will is pure speculation.
While that is possible, some people may be eligible to claim on both travel and home insurance for certain devices. Also, many businesses already have measures in place to deal with stolen devices and I suspect that they would be able to cater to damaged ones too.
Yes.

Doubt the UK Security Services who help in a "face saving" exercise given the current climate. If they act then it's on specific intelligence.

But is going to be really really annoying as someone on OMNI pointed out, that forcing people to check electronics means they won't be on the flight as the baggage handlers will have pocked them.

Obviously not all baggage handlers are thieves, but you get my point.

This will be in response to a specific threat or intelligence that has been gathered.

Us, Joe Bloggs members of the public don't know the half of what goes on. If you did you'd <deleted> yourselves!

To everybody replied regarding laptops catching fire in cargo hold - I will pay you $1000 to demonstrate me with the laptop if my choice, how it catch up fire inside a suitcase in ordinary air cargo transport situation.

Regarding the rest of discussion - if UK follows, they won't be alone. Seems it will be just matter of days until other rest of the world has the same rules implemented.

Which gives us two questions:
- Why those eight countries?
- Now what?

The commercial implications for this ban (and potential commercial motivations for it) are quite worrying. It makes three rather large Middle Eastern carriers suddenly far less attractive to the laptop toting business traveler (not to mention anyone who likes to bring their toys on board).

Has every one just gone nuts? All this mass hysteria because one wont be able to have an electronic gadget for the duration of a flight.

People look around, talk to some one, welcome to the real world, and put the virtual world to rest while traveling.

People use to travel like this for decades, and the world was just fine. For god sake's people use to sail on ships for months, ride horse back for days, and they still survived.

For me it's a breath of fresh air.

Focus more on getting from point A to point B safely.

Has baggage handling suddenly become more careful?
Besides - why should I be forced to check my carry-on now?

^^^

Edit: The Johannesburg baggage handlers will be delighted with this move.

You are assuming that DXB airport will apply the different levels of screening to flight departing for France versus flight departing for the US/UK. It would presumably be open to DXB airport to refuse to let any laptops through their security screen including for passengers going to France regardless of what the French Government decides.

Ofc I am assuming that, it is the only logical decision. What is easier and more cost effective, to apply this measure airport wide or to select flights? Just add an extra layer of security for outbound flights to the UK/US and that's it, no need to penalize to whole airport because of it.

This would cause disruption - packing laptops, tablets, cameras into checked in luggage is against current general advice due to theft from luggage and also possible damage. This would be a big issue when connecting to high crime airports such as JNB with through checked luggage. I assume more suitcase plastic rapping services like in JNB will appear elsewhere to attempt to reduce thefts in other airports.

More like "their electronic gadget will be stolen from them, and they won't be compensated because insurance companies and airlines quite rightly don't consider baggage holds secure for expensive electronics".

My tech industry company does a lot of business in India (has offices there). We have a ton of Indian employees (including the CEO and the C-level exec in charge of my unit). They quite obviously use EK a lot (nonstop flights from my US city and from every city we have offices in, one stop through DXB, all over India). They need their laptops for work once they get to India or once they are back in the USA, and we're not exactly keen on having confidential data pilfered. This will mean a lot less convenience for them going to work or visiting family.

It's not quite your parameters, but I remember this one from Aviation Herald a while back.

http://avherald.com/h?article=49e63a38&opt=0

And many more if you search 'lithium' over there including:

http://avherald.com/h?article=49a73611&opt=0

http://avherald.com/h?article=4a5309fb&opt=0

http://avherald.com/h?article=498b4f61&opt=0

http://avherald.com/h?article=497f811c&opt=0

http://avherald.com/h?article=446c4f7f/0018&opt=0

http://avherald.com/h?article=44e25cdf&opt=0

What's to stop being handed your laptop by an accomplice bound for somewhere else. It appears to require a lot of cooperation and trust from airports which the US/UK/whoever is next don't appear to have much faith in.

Will be much more complex for the UK given the number of flights to smaller airports in the countries affected and I very much doubt countries like Turkey (whose tourism trade has already been damaged) is going to like this very much...

I love to read a book instead, but I want to have my tablet and laptop in safe hands, and not in a suitcase in the hands of a bunch of baggage loaders, who are more then happy to sell them on ebay.