Internet scholar Danah Boyd reports that her laptop is burning her — you guessed it — lap.
Danah:
Much to my horror, a burn started emerging on my lap this summer. It’s just like the woman who reported this last year. It’s kinda creepy actually. The burn is all blotchy and it shows where my laptop clearly sits. I didn’t feel it happening, but it’s noticeably there and very much in the shape of my Mac. (And it makes it clear that I angle my Mac funny on my lap.) In fact, when it first started to appear, I ignored it because I thought maybe I had done a bad job with the suntan lotion on my thighs. But it got worse and then it dawned on me. I had heard about this problem, but I thought they had fixed it with some firmware upgrade. But it is distinctly the shape and size of my Mac. And it most definitely happened this summer and I have done all of the upgrades requested.
Of course this isn’t the first time that something like this has been reported, as Danah mentions.
Perhaps Danah should invest in Dan’s favorite $13 computer item — a lapdesk.
Oh wait, she did that:
The eerie part is that it’s not going away. I went to Burning Man (which meant 5 days without the laptop) and when I returned, I found a wooden lap-seat to place the machine on, but it still hasn’t gone away. (In the meantime, the burn I got from getting seared by the Temple embers has gone away, as has the slight sunburn.) I’m starting to get a wee bit creeped out. What kind of burn is this? Did my laptop cause more damage than I thought?
Uh oh.
What is an "Internet Scholar"?
I think what she describes as a "burn" is probably just discoloration. This is not a common effect since it is not usual for people to hold a hot object against their skin for prolonged periods. But, I imagine any hot object would cause the same effect.
Fading of the discoloration could take as long as it took to acquire the discoloration in the first place. So, possibly a matter of months rather than five days.
I remember when Apple stopped calling them laptops, and started calling them notebooks for this very reason, in fact they removed all references to the word laptop on their website, which I always found humorous.
I also went into the Apple store (always a big mistake, because I am confronted by arrogance and indignance every time) and I was lambasted for even CONSIDERING putting the MacBook or MacBookPro on my lap...obviously I was SOOOOOOOO stupid for doing so.
Personally, I never put a laptop (and people are always going to call them that, so the manufacturers might as well get used to it) on my lap, just on a table in front of me, or on the bed beside me. Here's another reason not to. (It would be unkind for anyone to suggest I'm just too fat to have a lap. Unkind but probably true....)
Its a general problem across laptops. I don't keep my Dell c840 in my lap for too long either. Its a weird feeling when you take it off your lap too. The hair on my legs where the laptop rest look wrinkled and charred. Also, there was a study that it can make you impotent, too much heat is not good for down there guys.
The girl in the picture is kind of scary with her Rod Stewart haircut and 80's clothing.
*shrug*
I use my MacBook on my lap all the time. It's only the rear-left corner that gets hot, so I don't touch that part. No problems here.
*checks thighs*
Hahah! "I thought they had fixed it with some firmware upgrade"
Like, Apple patched the fabric of reality, so now their notebooks no longer burn people when they get hot.