Of course, all this is a reaction to the Nigerian man who tried to blow up an airplane in the U.S. and the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) will do whatever it think is necessary to prevent further attacks of the same nature. But the simple fact that if TSA really is seriously concerned for electronic devices, they could have banned them at any time after the attacks of 11 September 2001. Instead, they do so more than 8 years later after a man apparently lit some kind of mixture of powder and liquid in her lap. How this applies to electronics is unclear. This smells of "we must do something."

All the details are not yet known, and it is very possible that this is only a temporary measure that will be in place during a time of heightened security after the attempted attack. Other reports suggest this will only affect the plan coming to the United States.

So far, all TSA official says this:

"Passengers flying from international seats to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so that passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere. Because of the busy holiday season, both the domestic and international travelers allocate extra time for check-in. "

The other safety measures including apparently that it is not allowed to come within the last hour of a flight, be limited to one bag in the cabin, and that it is not allowed to have anything in the knees during the last hour.

Given the previous policy of no liquids are allowed, the need to take the shoes, etc., it would not be entirely shocking that a rule against all the electronics of any kind will be the default. This comes at a time when the flight became almost bearable thanks to the WiFi on an increasing number of flights (including domestic at the moment). Instead, it looks like we have to revert to the old standards: books, magazines and newspapers for these flights, according to techcrunch.com