When it doesn't work

What is the most frustrating thing to face in the modern age - when technology doesn't work.  We all have times where pressing that button for the hundredth time just isn't working, or where we sit watching some spinning loader knowing the content will never show up.  Here are three ways to handle that situation that are less detrimental than cursing to throwing the device.

Turn if Off and then On again

The old standby, yup even today this is the best method when something goes wrong. In the worst case and the machine wont gracefully restart, unplug it and plug it back in (just make sure to plug it back in)
Some devices will even have reset functionality - this will reset a bunch of caches and factory settings that may have been messed up causing the device to act weird (for instance, iPhones can be reset without losing any data by holding the power and home button until the Apple logo appears)

Ask Around

With today's network capabilities it is very likely that you are not the only one experiencing an issue.  Especially if you live with other people, if the internet seems slow to you, try to figure out how many people are on the network (roommates often like sharing the passwords with their friends - I once had 54 people on my router at one time) Sometimes an easy solution is just to kick everyone off the network (if you have that ability), otherwise if you are the only one with the issue it might be your machine. (It also helps to test the device in multiple locations, sometimes if there is an issue I will sit in a Starbucks for a little while and test different things to see if the issue persists - this helps narrow down is it you or is it them).

Be Patient

Technology is a work in progress, it is always getting better and it is always breaking down.  This pattern will likely continue for the foreseeable future so it is important for the average user to understand this level of imperfection and not get mad at their devices not working.  At the end of the day the only one worse off is the user whose blood pressure was raised or who has to pay for a new phone because they threw it at a brick wall (or their printer out a window).

A few things not to do

Hit it

If this is an old CRT or radio, go for it, sometimes knocking the parts around actually makes things better - but for newer devices this is probably a really bad idea.  Occasionally I see people smacking around LCD monitors or banging their phones against the table.  First off, the parts in these devices are soldered into place, banging it around is just asking to knock something lose that should be fixed in place. Second, it might relieve a bit of frustration but with newer devices being so expensive its only likely to cause more frustration down the road.

Ignore it

Computers are creatures of habit, they do one thing and one thing only and they never do it differently. If something is actually wrong or unstable with your machine it is likely going to implode or explode but since that is rarely ever the case just leaving it alone wont fix the problem either.  If the machine has a bad part, that part wont fix itself, and if it has a bad program, that program wont rewrite itself.  At the very least send in a ticket - this is something most users fear more than anything else but really it is actually the most helpful thing you can do, because if you are having an issue with a piece of hardware or software, likely everyone else is as well, and that doesn't mean let the other person send in the ticket.  Take the initiative, sometimes you will get emails about how they are too busy to answer you or how they don't know what you are talking about and everything is fine (with those companies, plaster that reply email all over the internet and stop using that service, no good company with a good product will ever do this, but there are a lot of companies that will, help to flush them out) Chances are however this will not happen and you will get a courteous email back and sometimes even a thank you, occasionally even a free service or part - it never hurts to be active about this sort of thing.