...how it works and 
NEW Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch LED Part No. MC371LL/A
Will Macbook hard drive be damaged if moved while running?
The manual says not to move it, unless it is in Sleep mode, but obviously laptops were made to use on the go, and are often used in planes where there is a lot of movement, so I'd like to know what's the official word on this issue?
Ideally, it’s best to use the laptop in a stationary position. However, as you aptly pointed out, laptops are designed to be used by people on the go.
Nowadays, the hard drive in laptops are a lot more rugged than they were many years ago, and can handle the jiggling and shaking of a bus or train or plane. Be careful not to drop it while it’s on–you could end up with a bad hard drive and lost data.
Back up your data files often (at least once a week) if you don’t want them lost when a hard drive goes. And, hard drives on laptops go a lot more often than desktop hard drives.