The TSA has come up with one useful rule: you are allowed to pass through the security checkpoint without removing your iPad from your bag. (Brilliant move by Apple marketing, BTW.)
As a self-respecting geek and iOS developer I of course travel with plenty of electronics. On a recent trip I happened to have two iPads in my backpack while going through security. That was however too much for the TSA to swallow. (“Is that two iPads in your backpack??”) The iPads had to be separated and take another trip through the x-ray machine.
I honestly don’t know if the “iPad exception rule” is a general free pass for all tablets. I doubt it. The iPad is relatively easy to identify, but how would a TSA drone distinguish between the plethora of devices that get marketed as tablets these days. But that’s irrelevant for this story, since I can’t imagine anyone actually owning two Android tablets?
August 4th, 2011 at 01:58
There’s nothing magical about the iPad and the TSA per se; it’s just that the iPad is thin enough that the x-rays pass completely through it and the tech manning the scanner can clearly see that there’s nothing hidden behind it (or inside of it).
Your stacked iPads blocked the rays so you had to separate them. Android, WebOS, and other similarly thin tablets should pass through just fine.
Though I do feel bad for anyone wrangling two Android tablets.
August 19th, 2011 at 10:16
I feel bad for anyone even wrangling one Android tablet. They obviously have not experienced the iPad yet.