Now seems like a good time to ask: does the loud, audible click of a mechanical keyboards increase the user's accuracy? Are our ears in the loop, consciously or not?
A family member had a mechanical keyboard with a cherry mx switch and I tried it out with an online typing test I'd tried before.
I could type about 20% faster than usual, which is already way up there. I easily hit 135+ in several segments[1], which is insane.
I easily felt when I was making a mistake, I had confidence in what I was typing. (because of each little click.)
But it was also really loud.
Is that necessary? Is it part of what made me fast and accurate?
The obvious way to test this which would not change the feel of the keyboard at all, would be to put in foam earbuds and then see if my typing rate or accuracy drops when I can't hear the keyboard. Unfortunately I didn't have any with me so I didn't try it.
Can someone who uses a mechanical keyboard comment on whether the audible noise from it is part of the typing loop? if someone here has the inclination and a mechanical keyboard and happens to have hearing protection with them could you try it and tell me whether your typing rate or accuracy drops if you can't hear the keyboard? (if you do an online typing test with strong hearing protection in.)
If it does not, then why aren't there any absolutely silent keyboards that just have the feel (tactile feedback) but without any loud click?
I plain can't decide if this clickety-clack noise is part of the feedback loop the typist uses or not. My family member's keyboard was incredibly loud.
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[1] I'm being very literal so just to show you, on my own keyboard now I took a screenshot 15 seconds into a test, before I made any mistakes: https://imgur.com/a/eOejvsu - this was really hard for me to do now. On my own keyboard I can average 100 wpm for 60 seconds but it's really hard: https://imgur.com/a/tClgZR4