There is a technology-based scourge afoot...maybe.

It's not a virus, nor is it a denial-of-service attack. It's computer rage, and according to the latest reports, it's out to destroy the physical health, the emotional stability and, if left unchallenged, the economic strength of whatever population it strikes.

Security software vendor Symantec Corp., working with Britain's National Opinion Poll, recently found that when confronted with technical problems, more than 40 percent of British users surveyed have sworn at, kicked or otherwise abused their computers, monitors, and the most victimized of all computer components, their keyboards.

In similar surveys conducted last year, Marlborough, Mass.-based Concord Communications Inc. discovered that 83 percent of 150 U.S. respondents witnessed such attacks, and London international market research company MORI found that 40 percent of 1,250 British workers had watched as their colleagues leveled verbal and physical abuse at their computers.

Stress related to computer rage, the Symantec study claims, resulted in a loss of productivity for most respondents. Robert Edelmann, clinical psychologist and author of Interpersonal Conflicts at Work, is worried. "Frustration with IT should be taken seriously as a modern malaise," he says. "It is affecting both our work and our home lives to the extent that computer rage is now much more prolific than road rage."

Is he joking? Is computer rage a serious problem or just something dreamed up by vendors like Symantec that happen to sell "preventative software" that they claim will make computer frustration a thing of the past? Have your users really exacted violence on their PCs? Share your stories of computer rage, and tell us what you think.

Senior Web Editor Martha Heller can be reached at mheller@cio.com.

We have to remember (and train employees) that, unlike human beings, computers are absolutely intolerant of even the slightest imperfection. There is much business and ego pressure to "get things right," but since we flawed human beings are involved, there will be errors, no matter how high our IQs are.

It's important to keep our cool when these errors happen. We don't know what we don't know.

Steve Fitzgerald Senior Analyst Federated Department Stores Duluth, Ga. sfitzge@aol.com Computer rage? you bet! i've been on both the hardware and software sides of computer problems, and believe me, software problems can be the most frustrating problems imaginable. At least with hardware problems you can get your hands on it, feel it, replace it (fix it or throw it out--your choice). But with software? Only too often you're stuck with a buggy piece of software that you have to live with or try to. The result? Computer rage! I've done my share of keyboard bashing (and head banging), too. Richard D. Keith Engineering Systems Analyst, Medical Center at Bowling Green, Bowling Green, Ky.

I am, by most accounts, mild mannered. it takes a lot to get me flustered. As the father of two teenagers, I can honestly say I get the most angry, the most frustrated, the most annoyed, when my computer doesn't do what I want it to do, when I want it to.

I never swear, except when my computer crashes or otherwise interrupts the work that I am trying to complete. I have even smashed my fists on the keyboard more than once. But the truth is that the computer is simply in the way of what is really wrong: the software. The fix for computer rage is easy (though not to say fast or inexpensive for everyone): well-written, well-documented, bug-free software is the answer. Think how much more delightful work environments would be if Windows didn't offer those infamous "blue screens of death" so frequently. Or if all software written to run on Windows--and to a lesser extent all operating systems--was based on clean, clear, open source code.

Apparently, that's too much to ask. Ultimately, software isn't written for the user, it's created to make the originator rich--and the user takes his chances (the dark side of laissez-faire). Paul Maloy, Web Development Manager, Salt Lake City pmaloy@usa.net Rage is real. and it's expressed in irrational ways. In incidents I recall seeing, the persons reminded me of characters in a tragedy who cry out to the gods about justice or the meaning of what appears to be a senseless tragedy. In all the cases I have seen, it was the inability to cope with the realization that they have no useful product to show for the investment of their time. Tim Lee Director, Special Projects, Archer Daniels Midland Co., Decatur, Ill. tim_lee@admworld.com No hopes, no disappointments. if you expect bugs, you will not be angered when they manifest themselves. But the long-term solution is obvious: clean, efficient code, which has been carefully checked, and bugs discovered by true beta testers (not the unofficial beta testers, the users of first-generation software). Quality above all, even if a software package does not have all conceivable functionality. If it does what it is capable of and does it consistently well, then I think many users will be satisfied. Samuel Richman Systems, Administrator, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md. richmans@mail.nih.gov I must say I laughed when I first saw the title to this. I have never seen computer rage before. To me, if my PC doesn't work, it's usually my fault, as I am responsible for keeping 150 or more PCs working right all the time. I have, however, seen a video that's for laughs, about a guy trashing his PC because it wasn't working right. Jim Reitzel, Computer Specialist, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information Oak Ridge, Tenn.