How many laptops have you personally seen be stolen on a train?
Depending on the train type and configuration, many actually seem like pickpocket paradise.
FWIW I’ve used my laptop on the train plenty, I’ve never had anything stolen nor felt in any danger of it.
People get up to use the bathroom or the cafe car, the laptop is left behind for ten minutes, one of the train stops is while they're away from their seat, and someone sees an opportunity, snags it, and gets off at the stop.
This is an actual thing. And if it's worth a thousand bucks then it's very much worth getting off at an earlier stop then you'd planned, and continuing your journey on the next train.
Ticket inspectors or guards are irrelevant. There isn't one in your car 99% of the time.
I don't why you're trying to argue laptop theft on trains in first-world countries isn't a thing. It absolutely is.
So, yes, theft on trains for people that think they are 100% safe are a thing, but applying the same idea (to assume something is 100% safe and not be cautious) I wonder how do such people use the internet...
My work policies state you simply cannot leave your laptop out of sight for any period unless it's in a secure location (work|home). I feel the same way for my personal laptop as well.
Obviously, nobody steals things while the train is in motion. They wait until the train is about to leave the station, snatch a phone or handbag and jump out just as the door is closing. The train leaves, the thief blends in with other passenger leaving the station, and by the time news of the theft has made it from the passengers to the driver to the station staff the thief is long gone.
Of course people drive around $6,000+ cars all the time, so....
Something interesting: I live near a train line where the doors are not automatic (they have to be opened manually on each stop), and there have been incidents where people get pickpocketed while the train is still in motion, and the thief jumps out right before the station, when the train has slowed down significantly but is still in motion. Many people have been hurt doing this.
Make sure the laptop is insured and that full disk encryption is enabled. If it’s a Mac, make sure you have it in Find My so you can wipe it remotely if that’s something you worry about.
Yesterday's entry: "... kind of a mind flex that you noted you used Meta Stories glasses to take that photo."
