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Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?

https://blog.jgc.org/2025/09/is-movie-prop-ultimate-laptop-bag.html
120•jgrahamc•10h ago

Comments

unwind•9h ago
This passes Betteridge's law [1] just fine, since I guess the answer from those of us who actually have to carry the laptop any distance is a big "no". A backpack or messenger back is way more comfortable, right?

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...

cjs_ac•9h ago
Also, one usually has other things to carry along with the laptop, and there's also the question of the environment in which the bag is to be carried. That bag wouldn't be great for carrying electronics in heavy rain.
aarond0623•9h ago
I think the author just wanted to brag about their movie prop paper bag.
jgrahamc•9h ago
No, I was quite serious. I like carrying my laptop to/from places in an inconspicuous bag. I used to use random bags and found these movie prop bags to be ideal.
dwringer•9h ago
My thought is, for carrying a laptop, I'd rather have a backpack or messenger bag made of paper than a fabric grocery bag. The primary reasons I wouldn't carry a laptop in a grocery bag don't include the fact it's made of paper or the sounds of it rustling (though, it is nice to not have to worry about this one ripping).
paxys•9h ago
Why is a grocery bag the "ultimate" laptop bag exactly?
closewith•9h ago
Well, it's the last one you'll ever need (for that particular laptop that breaks the first time you put it down too fast on something).
ghaff•9h ago
That type of bag wouldn't be for me but the bags I do use don't really have much in the way of padding either. I can always put the laptop in a slightly padded sleeve.
nyc_pizzadev•9h ago
It’s not in my opinion. Look how wide the bottom is, so the laptop will rest diagonally across the bag which makes it not ideal to carry or put other items inside. I’m all for the perfect laptop bag, this isn’t quite it.
nicolailolansen•9h ago
The answer to the questions is probably no. No it's not.
keiferski•9h ago
I really like the idea of making everyday objects into computing devices/holders for computing devices. For example, I have a set of 5 vintage American Tourister suitcases [1] lying around, and I think they would make for awesome suitcase computers.

For this movie bag, it would be cool to see some more modifications. Maybe sew in a laptop sleeve and accessories pouch to make everything fit better?

1. Like this: https://i.etsystatic.com/42664500/r/il/709f97/5624109170/il_...

bitwize•8h ago
Neat! You could cosplay a 1970s fictional president, carrying the "nuclear football".
bobotowned•9h ago
if the bag was dropped in a forest would it make a sound? or just void your warranty… what's the sound of one hand clapping? Answer: OP's blog
yoz-y•9h ago
Any bag you need to actually hold in your hand is not ultimate for anything but short trips.
gmuslera•9h ago
Reminds me the old ads of Macbook Air, where it was pulled out from a manila envelope.
jollyllama•9h ago
A made in SF Timbuk2 bag was (and is?) the ultimate laptop bag.
ghaff•9h ago
I used one as a laptop etc. bag for a long time. As laptops got a bit smaller I now tend to repurpose a Mountainsmith bag (used over the shoulder) these days as my travel "personal item." But, in any case, some sort of shoulder bag is my goto. I find there are some downsides to backpacks on public transit, etc. and I end up with them slung over one shoulder anyway so why not use something designed for that usage.
jerlam•6h ago
Vintage ones, maybe. Timbuk2 has been slowly moving their manufacturing overseas.

Rickshaw Bagworks is the made in SF successor from the previous Timbuk2 CEO.

jollyllama•4h ago
Good to know. I know they shifted some production, but it wasn't clear to me if the custom ones were still made in SF, and if the non-custom bags were made in SF any time in the last 15 years.
royletron•9h ago
6F Jiffy Bag. Still the best case for a 13inch MB Air.
rammer•9h ago
No it is not ultimate it is a sad state of things that one is so worried about laptop bags being stolen that you have to hide it and make it inconspicuous in a paper bag.

It's really sad that SFO is now the car burglary capital of the world.

jstanley•9h ago
The post doesn't say anything about worrying about it being stolen.
afiori•9h ago
I think many are failing to come up with a more likely explanation for

> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all.

maxbond•2h ago
Crime is probably the best hypothesis but the other one to consider is that they have some sort of minimalist aesthetic, and they genuinely like the look of grocery bags (and nondescript bags in general).

If this was a security through obscurity tactic, why would they publish this blog post?

jgrahamc•2h ago
Yes! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45338980
blacksmith_tb•2h ago
You think laptop thieves will read the blog and start stealing brown paper bags on the off chance there's a laptop inside?

To me it seems like a pretty good strategy, with the downsides being you have to lug it around by the handle (no back or shoulder strap, which would spoil the camo effect), and it doesn't have pockets for small things like cables / dongles / etc.

maxbond•1h ago
I won't make that claim but I do think obscurity tactics are not normally publicized.
bitlax•9h ago
Well it's not for aesthetic reasons.
maxbond•2h ago
There's no accounting for taste!
bitlax•1h ago
I'm not even trying to be snarky! The author just says he's looking for the least flashy, most forgettable bag possible.
vincnetas•9h ago
it implies that "laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all. "

Why else try to hide that this is laptop bag?

BobaFloutist•6h ago
>It's really sad that SFO is now the car burglary capital of the world.

The airport?

sigwinch•1h ago
Maybe San Francisco wins California, but are you sure it’s higher than other parts of the world?
tln•41m ago
Maybe you meant SF in 2022. Car break-ins are down 61% since then FWIW.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/sf-bipping-car-bre...

technothrasher•31m ago
When I was a poor college kid living in Rochester, NY I used to park my car on the street outside the little house I was renting with a bunch of friends. I would leave a sign on the car saying, "door is open, help yourself to whatever you find inside," in an attempt to at least keep people from damaging the car, as they were inevitably going try to break in about three or four nights a week anyway. There wasn't anything in my car worth anything to take, including the car itself really. Though I was a little annoyed when somebody took my crappy cassette copy of the "Happy Nation" Ace of Base album and I had to make another one.
Bluescreenbuddy•9h ago
This has peak "suburbanite afraid of big cities and crime" energy
dmix•9h ago
Well Cloudflare's office is in downtown SF...
bitlax•9h ago
Crime is bad.
recursive•2h ago
That means it's pretty widely applicable I think.
IanCal•9h ago
> 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 different rather than just to move your laptop from one place to another with little ceremony.

CBLT•9h ago
> regular backpacks look nothing like a laptop bag

You're missing some context here — this is in San Fransisco.

ghaff•7h ago
I don't even live in SF but I'm a bit skeptical that a lot of people even carry around an obvious dedicated laptop bag at this point. I don't see them.
CBLT•4h ago
I've had my car burgled twice for them to only steal a backpack with nothing in it. I'm pretty sure the assumption is that backpacks have laptops.
red369•7m ago
I really hate this! Long ago, I had a quarterlight window smashed because someone broke into my 20 year old Toyota Corolla to steal a 4L, but half empty bottle of engine oil and a street directory. Obviously the engine oil wasn't expensive, and no-one used street directories anymore, even back then.

This was in nice suburb in New Zealand, so it was a bit of a surprise. The replacement window cost many times the value of what they took, and I was finding small pieces of glass for a while afterwards despite careful vacuuming.

Since then I'm more careful that there is nothing removable visible at all through windows. Ideally, anyone looking through the window should think I am the kind of compulsive person that carries every single thing inside each night. Unfortunately, the trick to making that work almost requires it to be true.

deadbabe•1h ago
I always wonder why no one invented hoodies or jacket with some kind of built in laptop pocket in the back.
_whiteCaps_•1h ago
Surveyors vests have those. Probably draw a lot of attention to yourself wearing hi viz though.
teagoat•1h ago
Some of scottevest's can apparently fit a laptop in the pocket: https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/comments/6w2p0o/scottevest_o...
stronglikedan•9h ago
> Any simple and cheap backpack

Where I'm from, a simple and cheap backpack is just as much a target as a laptop bag. The only solution is to just keep an eye on your stuff, and be aware of your surroundings, at all times.

jonny_eh•1h ago
Sounds like generally good advice, with or without a laptop on hand.
bombcar•23m ago
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.

WarOnPrivacy•13m ago
> 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.

kragen•4h ago
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 count 17 pedestrians of whom 4 are wearing backpacks. So maybe backpacks are mainstream in SF now.

recursive•2h ago
Even if it's marginalized, you can still just use it. I think I used to think that way in high school, but it's hard for me to understand functioning adults avoiding a type of bag, otherwise useful, because it's associated with being poor.
kragen•2h ago
Maybe you're used to being around functioning adults who don't need other people's approval, for example because they're rich.
chatmasta•2h ago
Isn’t looking poor a good strategy for being an unattractive target for theft?
kragen•2h ago
No, police punish theft from rich people, not theft from poor people.
chatmasta•1h ago
Good thing my backpack was stolen so I won’t look poor when I go into the police station to report the theft.
xp84•1h ago
Police (and DA) in SF don't punish any theft from anyone in my experience.
mistersquid•1h ago
> 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.)

andrewshadura•1h ago
What is 02202? A postal code?
averageRoyalty•1h ago
I'm guessing they use 5 digits for displaying the year. 02022 = 2022.
albumen•1h ago
He wrote 02022. It's the year in a Long Now [0]context, avoiding the Y10K problem that's just around the corner.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now

neilv•1h ago
It's only a Y10K problem if people assume that a year that happens to be 4 digits is existing in a system that doesn't permit years of 5 or more digits.

But as soon as you put a leading 0, (besides confusing people) you seem to be telling people to definitely use arbitrary fixed lengths for years and analogous purposes. Even though they weren't necessarily doing that before.

Sincerely,

    "neilv                           "
anigbrowl•36m ago
Cringe (him, not you)
themadturk•1h ago
I'm in the suburban Seattle area, and many, many adult professionals carry a backpack...even when they commute a few miles by car and walk 100 feet into their offices.
kragen•1h ago
I'm glad to hear it.
nenenejej•45m ago
By car? Where they all parking?
xp84•1h ago
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.

dylan604•25m ago
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
dotancohen•10m ago
In this millennium humans have not yet begun using five digit years. Otherwise, nice job covering your time travelling tracks.
hwc•1h ago
> and padded

I prefer to use a laptop sleeve, and then it doesn't matter if it is padded or not.

SirFatty•9h ago
It's not just for carrying, but protection as well. So to answer the question, no, it's not the ultimate laptop bag.
slightwinder•9h ago
But what if you wrap the Laptop in a towel?
bluGill•8h ago
Or just put a laptop bag in this bag? Best of both worlds.
kulahan•2h ago
Not all laptop bags are waterproof so definitely put a towel in there too
tjr•2h ago
Never go anywhere without your towel.
waltbosz•9h ago
Reminds me of the uglified camera to deter theft. https://web.archive.org/web/20090521084503/https://blog.jimm...
kulahan•2h ago
Reminds me of tips I used to see about how to cover valuable stuff up with one or two "dirty" towels to make criminals skip right past your "carbage".
sigwinch•2h ago
A very unfashionable diaper bag makes a good case for camera gear.
jerlam•20m ago
How would any bag be an obvious diaper bag? A quick image search for diaper bag shows bags that could just as easily hold laptops or cameras. Parents want to look fashionable too.

The ruse would fail instantly you took the camera out of the bag. Or when you have no child, and look like you are wealthy enough to have a camera hobby.

hamdingers•1h ago
A common strategy among bicycle messengers too. A high end bike wrapped in electrical tape with a crap paint job doesn't look to appealing and will be a struggle to sell.
andy99•9h ago
I used to take the Montreal metro to work just carrying my laptop. Someone I kmow from a big European city was very surprised and said nobody would do that there, it would make you a target for theft. Here I wouldn't think twice about it.
piva00•9h ago
That isn't a problem at all for most Western/Northern European cities though, without naming it makes it quite hard to judge if it was sensible advice or anxiety.

In Sweden I wouldn't think twice either...

jansan•9h ago
I wonder what that "big European city" would be? I don't think in Berlin anyone would grab a laptop from your hands in the U-Bahn.
jmclnx•9h ago
I also wonder if the Laptop Brand has to do with it. I would think the most targeted Laptops are Apples.
exitb•8h ago
What does one do with a stolen MacBook, since you can't just wipe it and reactivate on a different account? Sell for parts?
Reubachi•8h ago
The same thing done with stolen iOS devices; end up in Shenzen or Varanasi in a "might-be-used-for-parts" bin., until sufficient harrasment/social engineering of the original owner has failed. Then it goes into the "used-for-parts" bin.
Fricken•47m ago
I live in Edmonton, a friend of mine from London was astonished that I'd leave my bag by my chair unattended when using the bathroom at a pub. I don't even think about it, my stuff has never been nicked.
moi2388•9h ago
I’m sorry, what is this trash doing on hacker news?
buttocks•9h ago
JGC has star status here.
jgrahamc•9h ago
If true, that's a bad reason for this to be upvoted. My guess is that it got upvoted because people were surprised that these movie prop bags exist.
RandomBacon•9h ago
I didn't upvote because I think it's not a good laptop bag, but I'm sticking around for the comments for the discussion. Sometimes I'll upvote a post just because the discussion is good, but not in this case.

I'm upvoting some of the comments though, and I'm guessing the algorithm takes that into account when determining it's position on the frontpage :-/

rebolek•9h ago
Exactly, now I want such prop bag and not for laptop.
Dilettante_•9h ago
A-ha! The author tricked you too, it's actually his laptop bag! /j
stronglikedan•9h ago
Someone submitted it, and others upvoted it to the front page. You may be new, so that's how things work around here in a nutshell. Bienvenidos!
exitb•9h ago
The real story is that you need to conceal an electronics gadget as groceries in order to not have it stolen in SF
GuinansEyebrows•5h ago
i liked it. i make my own laptop sleeves and bags, and it gave me an idea for a thinner padded version of a prop bag that would work better for a laptop.
somat•9h ago
Slightly related: the ultimate move prop laptop was from "Twister" where they had sgi laptops. Note that sgi never made a laptop.

However what is even cooler is that someone actually circuit bent a sgi O2 into laptop form factor. Unfortunately the link to the project page is dead, my disappointment is immeasurable.

https://www.siliconbunny.com/silicon-graphics-laptops/

leetrout•9h ago
Details from the archived page

https://web.archive.org/web/20050212100138/http://www.jumbop...

And the bit on product placement

https://web.archive.org/web/20000414090221/http://www.bftr.c...

jonah-archive•5h ago
There's another photo of it in the thread here that didn't make it into the archived version: https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=5632

I have an O2 in storage and have been meaning to try a rebuild of this for... well, at least a decade at this point. Since I finally have a decent 3D printing setup now maybe I can actually make some progress this winter!

colinbartlett•9h ago
Betteridge's law of headlines strikes again.
arduanika•24m ago
He literally just said that. In TFA. You cannot make the joke if it's already there, in TFA.
xandrius•9h ago
Yep, so someone sees a rando paperbag and pays no care to it (containing my pricy macbook pro). Genius!
wodenokoto•9h ago
I like the hipster factor of the fabric grocery bag, but if you are looking for a more standard option, this is just a funny looking cotton tote bag.
nenenejej•42m ago
Rich people use paper bags. Only poor people worry about dropping their M4 Mac on the ground.
endymion-light•9h ago
counterpoint - a single drop of rain
queuebert•9h ago
Forget laptops -- I'd prefer this for my grocery bags. It has a clean, nostalagic look that all my free, loud, branded bags are missing.
beAbU•9h ago
I have a laptop bag that's made from tyvek and looks like a wrinkled manilla envelope. Quite strong and durable, although it totally looks like old brown paper.
bluedino•9h ago
I will never again carry a laptop in something doesn't have a zipper (or some sort of closeable sides)
kragen•4h ago
Why, what happened to your last one?
therealfiona•9h ago
Y'all are mean. I think it is fun.

Best bag? No

Fun? Yeah

cosmicgadget•5h ago
It is and should be indicated in the title.
AdmiralAsshat•9h ago
> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all.

Why, exactly? Is the thought that a thief is less likely to steal your laptop if he thinks it's a bag of groceries?

All of the other shortcomings seem to vastly outweigh the gain (lack of bang/bump protection; the fact that you're carrying a laptop in a grocery bag makes it more likely to naturally sway and bang against your leg as you carry it; that if you set it down like a grocery bag it will probably topple over due to lack of structural integrity; that you're leaving it out in the open rather than concealing it in your backpack; etc). And for all that trade-off, I'm not even sure what problem he's trying to solve in the first place that he feels his laptop bag should be inconspicuous above all else.

paxys•8h ago
Author is going to have their mind blown when they find out about tote bags.
jgrahamc•2h ago
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 not my biggest motivation. I hate ostentation. That's the reason I wear a Casio watch, would never wear clothes with a brand name plastered all over them, and drive a very boring car.

I do have a laptop sleeve that I use to protect the laptop and it slips easily into a bag. Prior to my silent bag purchase I did use random shopping bags (including canvas bags that seem to have sprouted like weeds in my cupboard), but after the board meeting situation mentioned I decided I'd try to find a long-lasting "paper" bag for the hell of it.

And I stumbled upon movie prop bags! Oh, and I hate backpacks.

libraryatnight•1h ago
Blogging about this makes you seem ostentatious about not appearing ostentatious. You might want to stop worrying about bags and start worrying about how you actually present yourself (or stop - depending on where your issues lie :P).
saljam•21m ago
i used to slip mine in a manilla envelope whenever i needed to take it home from the office and i hadn't brought my backpack with me. our stationary cupboard was well stocked with these!
guyromm•1h ago
the ultimate laptop bag is an inflatable orange swimming tow float bag: 1. it looks nothing like a laptop bag 2. it will protect your laptop from water, even completely submerged. 3. it will protect your laptop from falling when side pockets are inflated. 4. you can take your laptop to the beach and not worry about it getting stolen. 5. you can use it as a pillow when hiking or at the beach. 6. much cheaper than a laptop bag.

mine's a Decathlon OWS 500, but i guess that it's as good as any.

ntonozzi•48m ago
Plus, you're not any more ostentatious than any other triathlete at the beach.
tln•33m ago
I've used a 10x13 cardboard envelope a few times. It protects a bit from liquid/dirt and is inconspicuous.
sedatk•25m ago
- 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.

loloquwowndueo•17m ago
I mean, yes, but: how much does a Tom Bihn bag go for these days? $300?

Maybe also add lower-budget recommendations.

ChrisMarshallNY•14m ago
I've been using a cheap folio case (the kind with a pad of paper in it) for my MacBook Pro 14-inch.

Fits great.

1970-01-01•13m ago
Why do almost all laptops not come with a built-in handle? That is the quintessence of a portable item. Forget the bag.
loloquwowndueo•12m ago
Laptops ape notebooks (the paper kind). When’s the last time you saw a notebook with a handle?
WarOnPrivacy•6m ago
I'm with the parent. But then again, my bag also has a shoulder strap, two large compartments and a ½doz pockets. I carry 1-2 laptops along with an assortment of tools, cables and adapters. I serve to live.
zffr•3m ago
To me a handle implies that the object is somewhat sturdy. It’s okay to have it bump against other things and to set it on the floor.
neilv•11m ago
You can more easily get strong canvas grocery bags, with and without branding.

Including ones with two sizes of handles (one set of handles for dangling from hands, the others for slinging over shoulder), which I guess you could alternate based on whether you're visible to to muggers.

I even saw a canvas design that had a color and finish to look very reminiscent of grocery store brown paper bags.

The similar bookstore canvas tote bags might be seen as more likely to contain a laptop or tablet (since some people use them just like others do backpacks). So I like the grocery one.

One advantage of the movie prop one -- in the office -- is that I could imagine a stylish designer type carrying it to a conference room table, more easily than a frumpier canvas bag.

firefax•3m ago
I have a nice laptop sleeve that can hold a charger and cord in a side pocket, I'd use OP's bag.

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162•McScrooge•4h ago•92 comments

Beyond the Front Page: A Personal Guide to Hacker News

https://hsu.cy/2025/09/how-to-read-hn/
187•firexcy•12h ago•80 comments

PlanetScale for Postgres is now GA

https://planetscale.com/blog/planetscale-for-postgres-is-generally-available
240•munns•7h ago•137 comments

Show HN: Python Audio Transcription: Convert Speech to Text Locally

https://www.pavlinbg.com/posts/python-speech-to-text-guide
20•Pavlinbg•4h ago•14 comments

SGI demos from long ago in the browser via WASM

https://github.com/sgi-demos
226•yankcrime•14h ago•59 comments

Unweaving warp specialization on modern tensor core GPUs

https://rohany.github.io/blog/warp-specialization/
20•rohany•2h ago•4 comments

CompileBench: Can AI Compile 22-year-old Code?

https://quesma.com/blog/introducing-compilebench/
113•jakozaur•9h ago•46 comments

What is algebraic about algebraic effects?

https://interjectedfuture.com/what-is-algebraic-about-algebraic-effects/
70•iamwil•8h ago•31 comments

The Beginner's Textbook for Fully Homomorphic Encryption

https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.05136
151•Qision•1d ago•28 comments

A simple way to measure knots has come unraveled

https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-simple-way-to-measure-knots-has-come-unraveled-20250922/
100•baruchel•7h ago•51 comments