some of them are. I'm typing this on a keyboard with browns in an open plan office, and the three people who sit within two feet of me have no issue with it.

I work in an open office with 5 other programmers around, and none of us are bothered by each other's mechanical keyboards. We have a mix of Cherry Blues and Browns. We all agree that it's the least annoying thing about our open office.

It's a shared cultural thing unique to each company, no need to cast a blanket statement.

I'd argue that the real issue is that shared offices are inappropriate for programming.

Blue and green switches are inappropriate for a shared office, but if you get brown switches and install sound dampeners then they can be as quiet as a normal keyboard.

I wouldn't blanket all Mechanical Keyboards into this, its absolutely possible to build one that is no louder then your standard membrane keyboards.