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Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

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Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#151
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's just startup life, but living in SF during the 2010s decade, I didn't know many people who drove to work. Who wants to sit in traffic and then pay like $300 a month in parking fees when you can sit in traffic on MUNI vehicles for much less, while doing something useful? Even people who lived in the farther-out suburbs usually drove to BART.

These comments always make me laugh a bit. When the conversation is about cars, people chime in about how owning a car is dumb and public transpo is great. Yet, when the stories pop up about how public transpo is failing, people complain about how horrible the experience of using public transpo is and it's just easier to own a car

It's possible to have lots of different experiences across the many people with different lifestyles who might interact with public transportation. I loved my bus lines when I lived in sf because they were safe and super convenient and I hated city parking and I don't have kids. I can imagine the bus being crappy if those things aren't true.

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#152
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More or less any backpack will do. You can even find them for used for for free.

> You can even find them for used for for free. I live in a university town with lots of rich kids, which seems like the kind of place to find good-quality used backpacks if there were one. If there's an easy way to get my hands on free used backpacks that I'd actually want to use, then I certainly don't know about it.

Also, when the semester gets out. Usually there is a [local college name] Christmas and the rich kids just put their stuff outside rather than transport it back home.

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#153
post #68
post #18

> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all. That sounds like almost any regular backpack then. They can also be pretty weather proof, don't need to be carried in one hand, aren't open topped showing what's inside easily, and padded. Any simple and cheap backpack would solve this exact problem but better surely, unless your desire is to be…

When I lived in San Francisco, backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car. High-school students might carry a backpack, college students might carry a backpack, people on the bus might carry a backpack, but mostly not professionals who drove to work. Maybe that's changed, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zwWpqsI_3s purports to be from 02022, and in its first minute, I cou…

> backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car.

The majority of all commuters in SF do not commute by car: https://www.sf.gov/data--vision-zero-benchmarking-commute-me...

This has been true for at least a decade. The trend, even ignoring COVID, is that a decreasing proportion do so.

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to admit I prefer living in places where you can leave your laptop on the front seat of your running car and come back twenty minutes later and it’s all still there. But that’s a luxury and I know it.

> I prefer living in places where you can leave your laptop on the front seat of your running car and come back twenty minutes later and it’s all still there. We have that and it's one of the few perks of our suburban hell. My neighbor was gone for two weeks and had 10-20 packages on his doorstep. Our only concern was that rain might get to them.

We had just moved into a small town and then left for a week or so in the winter; the sheriff tracked down my phone (presumably from there real estate agent) and called to make sure we were OK when the driveway didn’t get plowed after a snowstorm.

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#156
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> regular backpacks look nothing like a laptop bag You're missing some context here — this is in San Fransisco.

I always wonder why no one invented hoodies or jacket with some kind of built in laptop pocket in the back.

Because a) it would be awkward to remove and replace the laptop from a slot on your back, and 2) sitting down in any chair with a back would be uncomfortable at best, and potentially damage your laptop.

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#157

Huh. This is back on the front page after a hiatus of many hours. A bunch of people here question why I'd use a paper bag to carry a laptop from one place to another. As I said in the post it is "inconspicuous". That can be interpreted in a couple of ways. One is simply not carrying something obviously containing expensive electronics which might be a target for theft. But having thought about this for a while that's…

ostentatious : "characterized by pretentious or showy display; designed to impress."

You think when people see you get your laptop from a "paper bag" that doesn't create an impression? I'd say a regular laptop bag would be far more inconspicuous. Your solution just makes you seem like you go out of your way to be special. Same as if all your colleagues wore suits and you choose to wear cargo pants and a t-shirt. At least in that case you can argue comfort. This bag isn't as comfortable to carry, not as functional nor as inconspicuous as a regular laptop bag

What bothers me is the hypocrisy not the attention seeking.

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Isn’t looking poor a good strategy for being an unattractive target for theft? Looking poor is also an expression of wealth where wealth is defined money one has not yet spent which provides options in the future. (Source "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel.)

Also keyword is "looking" poor. 300 hundred dollar jeans, fifty thousand dollar hybrid civics -- meanwhile, my Casio got a lot of curt remarks.

> fifty thousand dollar hybrid civics

Bro - the highest trim line civic hybrid has an MSRP under $35k…

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#159
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in San Francisco, backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car. High-school students might carry a backpack, college students might carry a backpack, people on the bus might carry a backpack, but mostly not professionals who drove to work. Maybe that's changed, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zwWpqsI_3s purports to be from 02022, and in its first minute, I cou…

What is 02202? A postal code?

No, it's an affectation.

Re: Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

#160
post #115

- It has a wide base, so the laptop just swings back and forth while carrying. - Gets the rainwater or any other hazardous material in. - Extremely easy to check out what's inside for a thief. - Can slide out easily and fall when toppled. Terrible overall. Could make it to Top 10 Worst Laptop Bags though. Just use a Tom Bihn that uses a separate, rigid, harder to access sleeve inside your backpack for laptops.

I mean, yes, but: how much does a Tom Bihn bag go for these days? $300? Maybe also add lower-budget recommendations.

I hate to find out how much that movie prop bag would cost. Labor alone would probably amount to $300
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