Whilst many of the Jobs-faithful seem like they'd give their life in service of the Apple name, not many realise that their paper-thin shiny white gadgets would do much the same for them. Like, if you got shot whilst clutching a Macbook to your chest, you would probably live. Why? Because Macbook batteries are bulletproof. At least, that's how the story goes widely reported a few years ago, Kris Parkinson was shot with a 12 gauge shotgun fired from 3-4 feet away during a hold up, and it was the Macbook he was holding that supposedly blocked the bullet and stopped him from dying. Seems like the sort of thing the Mythbusters would check up on. And guess what? They did! In one episode of the show they replicated exactly what happened in the news story (apart from actually committing a robbery, at least), using the same shotgun and a PowerBook G4. It work. On that a specific Macbook, with a certain leather bag, and right at the battery. And if you want to be doubly sure when using a laptop as body armour, you can get bullet-proof casing.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
Whilst many of the Jobs-faithful seem like they'd give their life in service of the Apple name, not many realise that their paper-thin shiny white gadgets would do much the same for them. Like, if you got shot whilst clutching a Macbook to your chest, you would probably live. Why? Because Macbook batteries are bulletproof. At least, that's how the story goes widely reported a few years ago, Kris Parkinson was shot with a 12 gauge shotgun fired from 3-4 feet away during a hold up, and it was the Macbook he was holding that supposedly blocked the bullet and stopped him from dying. Seems like the sort of thing the Mythbusters would check up on. And guess what? They did! In one episode of the show they replicated exactly what happened in the news story (apart from actually committing a robbery, at least), using the same shotgun and a PowerBook G4. It work. On that a specific Macbook, with a certain leather bag, and right at the battery. And if you want to be doubly sure when using a laptop as body armour, you can get bullet-proof casing.