Science Addiction

Bruce Schneier has an interesting piece on the flawed logic used against using cell phones on airplanes. Apparently authorities are worried about terrorist use of cell phones to co-ordinate their activities or to trigger attacks. From his blog:

…security countermeasures that force the attackers to make a minor modification in their tactics aren’t very good trade-offs. Banning cell phones on airplanes only makes sense if the terrorists are planning to use cell phones on airplanes, and will give up and not bother with their attack because they can’t. If their plan doesn’t involve air-to-ground communications, or if it doesn’t involve air travel at all, then the security measure is a waste. And even worse, we denied ourselves all the good uses of the technology in the process.

There are probably reasons rooted in social impropriety that are more valid than the phantom terrorist threat. The original article Schneier is commenting on is here at news.com.au.