12000 laptops lost every month in US airports
According to the study commissioned by Dell, more than 12,000 laptop computers are lost in U.S. airports every week. That’s about 600,000 notebooks per year. What’s more, only 33 percent of the laptops found in airports are ever reclaimed. That’s not surprising if (as the survey found) 16 percent of business travelers said they would do nothing if they lost their laptops, while 58 percent said they’d contact their companies for advice before they did anything. Just 27 percent said they’d immediately retrace their steps and contact lost and found.
A question for those who said they would do nothing: what do you do when you show up to the big meeting sans laptop? Pretend to type on an invisible computer? Act like you’re suffering from amnesia? Seriously, who does “nothing” when they discover their laptop is missing? I know laptops are getting cheap, but this seems like a stunning lack of concern for the whereabouts of a machine worth several hundred dollars at least, and presumably storing important documents, valuable photos and so forth. Of course, Dell is using the startling findings to pitch its new laptop protection and data recovery services, so make of these findings what you will.
Source: Dell, Dallas News
Comments(45)
Yeah, it’s not their money so who cares? It’s not their data so who cares? It’s not their customer information, so who cares? A complete lack of responsibility and protection of company and customer information. This could be seen as negligence if proper steps are not taken to recover sensitive data. FIRST?!?!?
my question is what happens to all the unclaimed laptops?…destroyed? sold on the black market? given away?… where do they go
I’m wondering why the title says months, but it’s actually supposed to be weeks.
@Shroogu
Lost is a euphemism for stolen. I don’t think people are actually forgetting where they put them, it’s not like there are lots of dark corners in an airport.
egh i want to work at the airport now. i assumed the unclaimed laptops goes home with some employees? seriously 12000 every week? where do they keep em.
Alienware Laptop $3000
1st class flight to miami $2500
Getting conned on ebay with your laptop….Priceless!
Now everytime I go to the airport the first thing I am going to do is find the lost and found and try to claim me a laptop
my work laptop has a Ensconce Data Technologies Dead-on-demand hard drive,if lost, I can remotely destroy the hard drive
yeahhhh, If I saw a laptop without a companion just sitting there I’d probably take it, if someone saw me or said something to me “Hey, I’m just taking this to lost and found” or “This is a threat to national security! There might be a bomb, better let me handle it.” How would you go about getting a laptop from lost and found that’s not yours?
Is this Digg? I thought this was RLSLOG. Who posts this crap?
Thats nuts. I can’t imagine not retracing steps and notifying airport staff if I lost a work laptop… I woulda thought that’d be 99% of people’s first step… (also note in the study people could select multiple answers on that question – and still only 27% said they’d do that…).
Only in the United States here in Sudamerica we don´t lost that kind of stuff
Sure fatty Americans are too lazy walkin 500ft to the Lost and Found Office
@OMG
why do you assume they are ALL Americans? Do only American’s pass through US airports? For all we know plenty of them are smelly french…
wow how can you lose a laptop? how careless can you be
personally i would keep the laptop if i found it
Is there any in Montreal ? Or are canadians more careful?
Funny sh*t…
“CIVITATIS NOVI EBORACI
my work laptop has a Ensconce Data Technologies Dead-on-demand hard drive,if lost, I can remotely destroy the hard drive”
Sneaky way to advertise a drive that is not yet available, per their web site.
Bill
Bill,
you’re right they are not yet available to the general public….
@3
Lol, totally right
hmm
im gonna go to the airport & say i lost my laptop
“i lost my laptop, its a gray/silver one”
I gotta start hanging around airport more often, claim me some goodies lmao.
But seriously, generally you can go to BestBuy, FutureShop, Source, etc and buy a normal laptop for around 700 bucks. So when you think about it, you’re losing 700 bucks or more. Now I don’t know a lot of people that can lose 700 bucks and not care.
GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT….its says 12000 laptops every month on the “title” but in the “body” it says 12000 every week…
so is it for every week or every month…???????????
My guess is, a lot arent claimed because of whats on there. Dodgy porn, photos of the missus/mistress in compromising positions, maybe even the owner himself/herself in their very own porn poses? You get what I mean?
lol
They’re “lost” on purpose. Work laptops are for three years. People get tired of them. They want a faster model. They back up all their stuff and then “lose” their laptop at a convenient time. Call the company. “Oh dear, we’ll have to get you a new one”. As if that’s bad news? Puh-leeze.
24.devious
Is right, laptops have no resell value (or VERY BAD resell value, with every pasting year)
they should have ask, how many of them have there laptops insured.
If there is sensitive data the laptop, they will try get it back. but if not ,call your insures broker
I know someone that works security at an american airport that says that this happens so often that most of the employees will tell laptop owners to tape a business card to the top or bottom of a notebook so that there is some kind of contact info. It seems like it is more trouble than what it is worth to actually steal it. It is a government job, and if you actually look at the stats, it pays pretty well. I see some trashy people working at the airport, don’t get me wrong, but if people at the security checkpoint are advising you to do what my friend claims, they must be tired of filling out the red tape. Just an observation, and one that is biasedly informed, but you can test it yourself the next time you fly. “Forget” your laptop, and then come back for it. See what they have to say.
You are correct. There are silent auctions done at parties/gatherings/picnics for airline employees where this stuff is darn near given away. This is actually first hand information because my dad (who is an airline employee) Missed out on getting me a $150 Gibson Les Paul. I was angry to say the least, and I didn’t even need to ask what year model it was.
The last part of the text is the most important one: Dell uses this ‘research’ to market their new services. Call me crazy, but I thing the figures might be exagerated…
On the other hand, we’re not talking about something these people bought themselves. A laptop is often given by the company, and doesn’t cost them a dime. So when they lose it, who cares? The company will give you another one after you fill in the right paperwork. It’s lame, but that’s how the machine works!
Tuff Gong, theyve never been great with Math lol Seen a few arguments over math in movie sections even lol
Hastheclap is the worst, i bet hes like 35 but still had to put the lame as “first” comment in LMAO, good one little boy good one. heres some fairy bread.
Note to self…, if ever visiting the USA, dont take ANYTHING valuable!
Mouse, i got Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus on ebay if ya want lol $2650 AUS is outright cost. Velvet lined case etc etc check the pic.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Gibson-Les-Paul-Classic-Plus-in-Mint-Condition_W0QQitemZ250267221188QQihZ015QQcategoryZ33034QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
one word lojack. lojack your laptop i think you could put lojack on a laptop right?? or you have to buy a laptop that comes with lojack? or can you also add it as a accessories or something?
lojack your laptop people damn. you could put lojack on your laptop.
Laptop is probably insured, and there are other flights to take.
Also most companies who have truly secret documents will have taken laptop loss into account and have taken precautions (such as encryption).
my friend works in an airport, and she gets a lot of creams and expensive beauty products (the ones they take off from travelers that take them in handbags, which u cant)… before, she could also take the alcoholic beverages but now the security guys stay with it and all the electonic devices (laptops, cellphones…)
load of crappola. i work at the airport and ive yet to find any laptops.
work for jetblue too.. businessmen left and right.. no lappys.
Well, this news is at least 7 days old… But its incredible. I would never lost a laptop.
A company selling a service does a survey showing how desperately their service is needed and someone actually takes it seriously?
The number of “studies” posted on this site that are obvious BS on their face is just stunning.
I LOST MY LAPTOP IN THE AIRPORT WITH ALL MY PORN!!!
HELPZZZ!!!
Strong Bad got my laptop.
I know how these laptop owners feel.
Just the other day I parked my car at the casino and forgot to notice the level/section.
I gave up looking and bought another car.
I’m guessing it’s 12000 DELL laptops that are left behind every week… Maybe users are hoping their new laptop will be a Lenovo X300 or MacBook Air
its juts 12,000 new laptops for the hustlers out there who work very hard at not getting caught (esp. in an airport)..and the lost ones…wellllll..those people are just more examples of how disposable things are to most people, esp. when they don’t buy them- its boils down to hyper-capitalism dulling our senses and making us apathetic towards the stuff we buy…not many of us shop around for quality anymore…just head over to best buy and buy the first POS they see…..*sigh*….I had my laptop stolen last year. I don’t DO anyhting because I dont call the pigs for help- I dont like cops therefore I dont use them to “help” me…
I lost my laptop in my girlfriend’s a$$. We were f*ing while playing Warcraft.
Companies need to make their employees liable *to a degree*. How the frak you gonna role up to your boss and be like “ya uh I lost that there notebook, and couldn’t be bothered to go looking for it, can I just get another?”
I don’t even know whats worse, the people who don’t care, or the people too stupid they need to call home to get told to get off the fat A$$es and go look for the notebook. Honestly, are these the type of people you really want representing you company?