Missing the point I think. It's really disrespectful to use a loud / mechanical keyboard in a public place, or really when anyone else is nearby. This lets folks use normal/good keyboards and still satisfy the weird craving some have for mechanical noises through their own headphones. Probably will save some RSI surgeries too, people can use healthy low key travel keyboards instead of high travel mechanical switches, while still getting the clicking sound they want.
> Probably will save some RSI surgeries too, people can use healthy low key travel keyboards instead of high travel mechanical switches, while still getting the clicking sound they want.
Citation Needed.
Mechanical keyboards are generally considered to be /better/ for your ergonomic health than low-travel keyboards. Part of this is that the primary form of repetitive injury is bottoming out the keys, which if you are on a higher travel keyboard with good tactile feedback you tend not to do, because you can actuate the keys without bottoming out.
It seems individual. For me mechanical keyboards are way too deep and require too much effort to press. It is possible to lightly touch them but this requires more mental effort imo than just using a chiclet keyboard.
It feels like people use them for the satisfying audio and tactile feedback rather than any genuine improvement in typing speed.
> It is possible to lightly touch them but this requires more mental effort imo than just using a chiclet keyboard.
This is easily remedied by using a very lightweight switch. Many different mechanical switches are available from well under 45gf to actuation force. (Thinkpad and macbook laptop/desktop keyboard range from 60 to 65gf of actuation[1]) You can see a small set of available switches and their force actuation curves here: switches.mx. You should possibly look into getting a switch tester with many types of switches to get the exact feedback force you prefer.
There’s a ton more websites (theremingoat.com) and public github databases for this data.
Anecdote: I had serious wrist/hand pain after using a mechanical keyboard for years. I changed to a low profile keyboard, and I don't have pain anymore. Who knows, maybe it was coincidence.
Anecdote: I had the opposite, I switched to an ergo layout mechanical keyboard and a vertical mouse and was able to avoid near-certain surgery.
The difference tends to be whether you're a "hard typer" or not. Folks who are hard typers (I am one), do much better with mechanical keyboards because it subtlety teaches you not to bottom out due to tactile feedback, while low-travel keyboards you /always/ bottom out while using. Folks who are not hard typers don't bottom out hard enough for it to injure them, and because they type more softly experience more strain due to the higher actuation weights of mechanical key switches.
RSI is fun like that, there's no one true answer. You have to find what works for you. It's not a mistake though that one of the first and most respected ergonomic keyboards has always been mechanical, though [1].
That said, /most/ RSI issues actually start with how you sit while typing. If you get a proper chair and desk and adjust your typing stance (yes, this is a thing), you can reduce wrist pain from RSI even without changing anything about your keyboard. Also, using touchscreens and using mice are way worse than the keyboard for you anyway.
The reason I responded the way I did to the parent, is that people who are hard typers are basically guaranteed to end up with RSI at some point in their life simply due to the strain of being a hard typer. As near as I can gather at this point, there's nothing you can do to train yourself to not be a hard typer. I'll be this way my entire life, but I can get tools that reduce its negative impacts.
Funny, I always feel like I’m about to get injured using really low travel keyboards like the new apple magic keyboards. Hence I prefer mechanical ones.
Guess it varies from person to person. Good to find what works for you.
I have a theory that the RSI is mainly developed by the angle of the hands relative to the keyboard. Which is why the profile change is sufficient to mitigate the problem.
Good point - using a wrist rest with a mechanical keyboard feels a lot more comfortable for me, since they tend to be a bit bulkier and more raised from the desk. Without one, I rely on the armrests to have the forearms higher than the keyboard so that my wrists aren't flexed.
‘Mechanical’ has practically nothing to do with keyboard acoustics. Take a typical mechanical keyswitch, like a Cherry MX brown, loose on it own, and press it: it's practically silent.
Obviously it doesn't change anything in the physical world. I think you're just misunderstanding the implication. If this software fulfills the need, individuals would not need to use keyboards that physically create the sound. Whether that would actually happen is a different matter.
This whole comment feels pretty bunk and I am surprised at the confidence with which it is written.
> It's really disrespectful to use a loud / mechanical keyboard in a public place, or really when anyone else is nearby.
It isn't. Public places come with noise. By this snippet, even speaking would be disrespectful in a public place.
> This lets folks use normal/good keyboards and still satisfy the weird craving some have for mechanical noises through their own headphones.
Good keyboards are subjective. It is weirdly reductive to refer to keyboard sounds as a craving.
> Probably will save some RSI surgeries too, people can use healthy low key travel keyboards instead of high travel mechanical switches, while still getting the clicking sound they want.
Low travel keyboards are not healthy. Regular keyboards are not unhealthy. There are not correlations between them. The nature of RSI means that experiences will differ and what works or doesn't work for you will not be the same for me.
Of course public spaces come with noise, but creating more noise than you need to is disrespectful. It's no different to having bad hygiene, using more space than you need or public flatulence. These things are unpleasant or inconvenient for others so should be kept to a minimum. In general one should seek to minimise their footprint wherever possible.
The spoken word is probably the single most difficult common specific sound to filter out - it's probably the sound we're most hardwired to pick out from background noise and process, possibly second to the sounds of an aggressive wild animal.
Audible conversation is incredibly distracting - we put up with it in the workplace because workers need to collaborate and communicate. There's a reason it's heavily frowned upon in places where people intend to hear something specific (theatres, churches) or focus deeply (libraries).
Your Cherry MX Blue switches probably aren't going to be welcome in any of those spaces either though.
