i don't have time to read this specific article, but in another discussion of this issue, a real threat was brought up in forcing laptops to be checked. there are non-zero occurrences of laptop fires happening on flights, but since they were with people in the cabin or in the overhead bins, they were able to be supressed. if these fires started in the luggage storage, they might have raged unchecked or created other issues. i would be surprised if airplanes don't have fire supression in the luggage compartment, but forcing the storage of laptops there seems to be asking for trouble.