iPad – Does It Need Any Special Screening?

While to TSA is usually everybody's favorite agency to love to hate, I have to give them kudos this time for preemptively answering questions about the world's new favorite gadget, the iPad. With already hundreds of thousands sold, people are already bound to be traveling with it. So this begs the question, "What do I do with my iPad at security?" This question comes up because while the iPad isn't a laptop, it is a tablet  computer.  Currently travelers are required to remove their laptops from their cases for screening, except if they are using a TSA-approved laptop case.

Fortunately, the TSA is already answering that question for it. The agency appears to have learned that staying aware of the latest electronic devices can help avoid issues at checkpoints. For example, the MacBook air received some scrutiny by TSOs because it looks different on the inside compared to other laptops.

So what's the verdict on the iPad? Accroding to the TSA's official blog, it can stay in your bag. This includes all smaller electronic devices like Amazon's Kindle, or even netbooks. Only electronics larger than the standard laptop (unfortunately the TSA does not identify that magical size) need to be removed for screening.

So, kudos to the TSA for clearing this up quickly. But the big question is if policies will be properly enforced across the nation. From my own experiences, I feel that won't be the case.

Photo Credit: Yutaka Tsutano via Flickr