Sorry, I did not mean to shout, it’s the tech

Forget the “man bites dog” as the ultimate headline show stopper.

In the tech times, “man bites gadget” might be more appropriate.

Hot on the heels of the revelation that use of smart phones has caused several people in France to commit suicide comes another sad tale of how technology is affecting our personal lives.

At some moment, most users of the modern gadget have all felt frustrated enough to let slip a curse word and many a sane mind has briefly considered throwing it across a room.

While many mull over it, few act on our urges to inflict bodily harm on our phones, computers or printers.

But for one man in Cincinnati, his anger at his mobile phone a little too far landed him in jail.

Donald Goodrich, 38, was an annoyed iPhone customer who wanted justice, so he visited the phone maker’s store, ready to air his anger at the device’s failings.

Mr Goddrich is reported by American media as saying he was “so mad, [he] could pop a 9mm at it” - meaning his iPhone.

For that simple statement, the man found himself cooling his heels in a cell, facing a charge of aggravated menace, and concealing a weapon, because it appears Mr Goodrich had a gun to back up his claim, which was conveniently tucked into his back pocket.

Once he removed the gun and brandished it, saying that he would shoot the phone, the Apple employees realised that things had gone far enough and called in the law enforcers.

It is assumed that the main reason for his ire was a broken part.

Mr Goodrich may want to join a growing number of women who are also up in arms about Apple’s iPhone.

The LA Times reports that women who have long nails — as well as people with chunky fingers, including, it seems, yours truly — have real trouble typing on the iPhone.

The group of American women is actively campaigning to have the iPhone include a stylus as one of its components, saying they are sick of the hit and miss relationship they currently have with their phones.

The women are complaining about the fact that they are unable to type on their iPhones.

This is because iPhone’s touch screen only responds to the electrical charge emitted by fingertips.

But away from the intricacies of iPhones, psychologists are now weighing in on the increasing number of ‘incidents’ that are related to technology.

They even have coined a term for it: electronic aggression.

Electronic aggression is the term that most accurately captures all types of violence related to electronics.

And just like traditional forms of violence, electronic aggression is associated with emotional distress and conduct problems within the individual’s personality.

In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) convened a panel of experts to discuss issues related to the emerging public health problem of electronic aggression following what it noted as a steep rise in aggressive incidents.