PCWorld is speculating about a ban on laptop batteries:

When or if a laptop battery ever catches fire in-flight, we can expect new rules. I think the most likely future FAA rule is that laptop batteries will not be allowed inside laptops, but carried only in plastic bags and never stored with other batteries. Although this is far less catastrophic than total battery bans on all flights, it would ruin the Wi-Fi laptop nirvana I described.

While it doesn't pay to underestimate the stupidity of the FAA or the TSA, I see this as highly unlikely. Why? Well, next time you fly, count the number of laptops you see in use - a lot of those are being used by the high value (i.e., high fare) business travelers. I can't see the airlines going along quietly with this kind of thing unless they get power at the seats in most flights.

There's also the simple, rational fact that laptops with batteries have been around for a long time now. Sure, there likely will be a fire someday, and I'd hate to be on the flight it happens on. But heck - the risk seems to be really, really low. Should we ban music in cars, on the grounds that fiddling with iPods and radios is likely to lead to accidents? That's a much higher risk, and it will never happen.

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