We've all been there

[Gob]

A man in the US city of Colorado Springs faces police action after becoming so frustrated with his computer that he took it outside and shot it eight times, police say.

"He was having technology problems, so he took it to the back alley and destroyed it," a police spokesman said. Lucas Hinch was briefly detained for discharging a firearm within the city.
He did not realise he was breaking the law when he went "Wild West" on his machine, local media reported.

A judge is due to decide what penalty he will receive.

"He got tired of fighting with his computer for the last several months," police spokesman Jeff Strossner told the Colorado Springs Gazette. The paper said that Mr Hinch "shot the darn thing" when ctrl+alt+delete - the traditional method used to re-boot computers - "consistently did not work" on Monday evening.

"He was able to wreak the kind of revenge most of us only dream about," the paper said. "The computer is not expected to recover."

[Crackpot]

I can see this being a problem for the judge. Not wanting to vilify someone for something we all want (or have wanted) to do. But at the same time, not wanting to encourage others to do the same.

In other words enough punishment to deter future acts but not so much to be unjust and out of line with his "crime"

[MajGenl.Meade]

If only he'd used a knife - probably not illegal

[Lord Jim]

I'd go at it with a baseball bat...

Much more physically satisfying , and certainly not illegal...

Shooting it would be too impersonal...

ETA:

And strangling a computer with your bare hands is not possible, otherwise I'd go for that...

[Guinevere]

I've wanted to throw mine out a very high window and watch it smash into pieces.

[Long Run]

I would think this is a gun right everyone could get behind.

[BoSoxGal]

It's usually a misdemeanor offense to discharge a firearm within city limits, unless it was done in a manner that created a risk of serious bodily injury or death to a human being.

Killing a computer isn't illegal. Even if it was, this could be a case of justifiable homicide.

I bet if he has no criminal history he will get a deferred sentence.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Everyone will know who he is - he's the one with a rotating hourglass over his head

[BoSoxGal]