On Christmas Day last Friday, the United States experienced its first serious terrorist scare in months. On a plane originating from Yemen, headed to Detroit, Michigan by way of Amsterdam, a man attempted to detonate an explosive device, but fortunately was unsuccessful. You didn’t come here to read international headlines, however, and chances are, you already knew about this. I bring this up because, with every new terror scare/attempt/attack, there are alway new policies put into place, new regulations implemented and new limitations put on travel, all in the hopes of improving our travel safety. These new regulations may have an effect on the technology we hold oh so dear.

In the immediate wake of the attempted attack, a rule was put into effect forbidding passengers to get up or have anything on their laps during the final hour of their respective flight. Without getting off topic, I have a serious problem with this. My problem isn’t stemming from the sheer boredom I am sure will ensue (though I’m not happy about it), it is from the absolute stupidity and uselessness of this new rule. The US’s response to terror attacks is always in direct response to the attack. Take the show bomber of 2001 for example. Man tries to blow up plane with bombs in his shoes; America’s response: have all passengers remove their shoes at security for scanning. And now with this latest attempt: man tries to blow up plane in the last hour of the flight; America’s response: limit passenger activity during the last hour of the flight. Why is it that no one in the government seems to think ahead? The only way we will win this war on terror is by being three steps ahead of these animals. Plug one hole and they will just dig another. There I am done rambling off topic. I just had to get that off my chest.

Now, back to the real reason you came here: technology. What Friday’s attack demonstrated is that the bad guys will always find ways to accomplish their goals. Heck, this time they even resorted to blowing up their underpants, so clearly they are full of ideas. And with the advent of the “no moving in the last hour of the flight, no excuses” rule, the government isn’t trusting any piece of technology held by anyone (at least, during the last hour of a flight). If there is another attempt at an attack, will that mean more restrictions? As the devices our enemies use get more complex, that may mean that more electronic devices may be prohibited on airlines.

If more restrictions are put into place, this will be “ironic” in two respects. First, in-flight WiFi has just begun rolling out in fleets across the globe. If laptops become a restricted item, then WiFi signals won’t be as useful as we once hoped.

Also, one of the fastest adopted technologies this year has been e-book readers. FUN FACT ALERT: This holiday season, Amazon.com sold more e-books than actual books (according to Information Week). So yes, what I’m saying is, if we eventually phase out good old fashioned paper, we won’t even be able to read on flights! This is of course a worst-case scenario and in no way a reality. Though it is not out of the realm of possibility.

Here is my plea: To all those technology security geniuses – there IS a way to discern the bombs from the authentic everyday devices, as there is always an answer to every problem. Simply scanning for metal really is not going to cut it anymore. The world isn’t moving towards a technology-centered lifestyle, it is already there. If we are going to fully embrace that lifestyle, we need to learn how to secure it without sacrifice.

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