6 ms·

I am curious about this. Do people who work in the open plan office, feel bothered by clicky mechanical keyboard sounds (cherry mx blue, greeen etc)?

by yla92 7y ago

jdcro 7y ago
Yes, mechanical keyboards are noisy and inappropriate for a shared office.
- Jiig 7y ago
  I wouldn't blanket all Mechanical Keyboards into this, its absolutely possible to build one that is no louder then your standard membrane keyboards.
- chadlavi 7y ago
  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.
- globalproctd 7y ago
  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.
- harimau777 7y ago
  I'd argue that the real issue is that shared offices are inappropriate for programming.
- noelsusman 7y ago
  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.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
I had one for a while until people told me to get rid of it. I guess there is a difference between you make yourself when typing and others having to listen to it...
bloopernova 7y ago
I love my mechanical keyboard. But, even dampened with o-rings, I wouldn't use it in the office. I use an Apple keyboard instead.
- neurotrace 7y ago
  It depends on the switches. A significant percentage of people in my office use the Apple keyboards and they're definitely louder than my Cherry MX Silent Red switches. I don't even have o-rings on them and they're almost completely silent as long as you aren't slamming on them.
Bayart 7y ago
Depends entirely on the "culture" of your team. I have pretty strong misophonia that's been nothing making my life very difficult since I was a kid but switch noises are actually satisfying to me. A lot of devs feel the same. Mechanical switches sound like concentration, good work, precise engineering. It's all about the consistency of the background noise and the mental associations. On the other side of things, the sound of a door closing too strongly will ruin my concentration and put me in a mood.
deleted 7y ago
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folkhack 7y ago
Yes - they're inappropriate for open offices and there's a very good chance that you're bothering someone. Best way to handle this is communicate. Last office mate I had asked if he could bring his in, and since it was something that's never bothered me I was totally fine with it... I brought mine in shortly after ;) The dampening rings don't help much either.
saltcured 7y ago
Your question made me think way back to shared terminal labs where the terminals made an electronic noise for each key press, either a short beep or a harder click. I imagined this feature was an already anachronistic crutch for people who remembered typewriters and typing pools. At university, I shared an office with a student who made so much noise typing that I could only stop and ponder with amazement. This guy typed like the keyboard was a piece of meat, and his hands were basting mops. Somehow, his fingers mashed out whole words and phrases as he dragged his paws across the keys.
electricslpnsld 7y ago
Ugh in my current open office the team next to me has entered a machismo fueled arms race for who can find the loudest clacky keyboard possible... even with the biggest and baddest noise cancelling cans I could find twelve hours of my day are just clack clack clack, I’m going slowly insane!
deathanatos 7y ago
The blame needs to get placed appropriately here: one shouldn't be bothered by the keyboard; one should be bothered by the horrendous office layout that allows trivial sounds to propagate so easily. I use a mechanical, as the Apple keyboards gave me RSI. My pain has gone away since, and I've not had any complaints about noise. (Much of my office uses mechanical, and most of us do it for our wrists.) I use some of the quieter switches; I'm not in mechanical for the noise, but for the feel & layout. That said, it's about on-par noise wise with an Apple keyboard, but people think mechanical == noise.
newnewpdro 7y ago
It depends on the people, but it's safe to err on the side of yes clickety keyboards annoy some. Nobody will be excessively interrupted/distracted by a quiet keyboard. The same is not true for the other direction. At my last position, open office, a few people on my team complained about other members' loud buckling-spring-like keyboards. Since it was an open office and we were all complaining about noises well beyond some of the keyboards, like sales calls and constant conversations, it was somewhat moot and nothing was really done about it. But it definitely increased animosity within the team, it pays to be especially considerate of your neighbors, particularly ones you need to collaborate with.
pyridines 7y ago
Yes. Absolutely. It's distracting. Clicky switches, like blues and greens, should not be allowed in an open office. It's possible to type softly enough on non-clicky keyboards that they aren't loud, but most of my coworkers seem to love bottoming-out on every stroke. I use QMX-Clips to silence my keyboard. It's only slightly louder than a normal membrane keyboard.
wilsonnb3 7y ago
I've never had any complaints but I use a keyboard with Cherry MX silent switches. Highly recommended if you are worried about the noise, although they are harder to find on keyboards than other switches. The guy I sit next to uses a mechanical Logitech keyboard with their custom switches and I've never heard any complaints about that one, either.

I am curious about this. Do people who work in the open plan office, feel bothered by clicky mechanical keyboard sounds (cherry mx blue, greeen etc)?

by yla92 7y ago

I am curious about this. Do people who work in the open plan office, feel bothered by clicky mechanical keyboard sounds (cherry mx blue, greeen etc)?

jdcro 7y ago

Yes, mechanical keyboards are noisy and inappropriate for a shared office.

Jiig 7y ago
I wouldn't blanket all Mechanical Keyboards into this, its absolutely possible to build one that is no louder then your standard membrane keyboards.
chadlavi 7y ago
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.
globalproctd 7y ago
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.
harimau777 7y ago
I'd argue that the real issue is that shared offices are inappropriate for programming.
noelsusman 7y ago
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.

Ididntdothis 7y ago

I had one for a while until people told me to get rid of it. I guess there is a difference between you make yourself when typing and others having to listen to it...

bloopernova 7y ago

I love my mechanical keyboard. But, even dampened with o-rings, I wouldn't use it in the office. I use an Apple keyboard instead.

neurotrace 7y ago
It depends on the switches. A significant percentage of people in my office use the Apple keyboards and they're definitely louder than my Cherry MX Silent Red switches. I don't even have o-rings on them and they're almost completely silent as long as you aren't slamming on them.

Bayart 7y ago

Depends entirely on the "culture" of your team. I have pretty strong misophonia that's been nothing making my life very difficult since I was a kid but switch noises are actually satisfying to me. A lot of devs feel the same. Mechanical switches sound like concentration, good work, precise engineering. It's all about the consistency of the background noise and the mental associations. On the other side of things, the sound of a door closing too strongly will ruin my concentration and put me in a mood.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

folkhack 7y ago

Yes - they're inappropriate for open offices and there's a very good chance that you're bothering someone. Best way to handle this is communicate. Last office mate I had asked if he could bring his in, and since it was something that's never bothered me I was totally fine with it... I brought mine in shortly after ;) The dampening rings don't help much either.

saltcured 7y ago

Your question made me think way back to shared terminal labs where the terminals made an electronic noise for each key press, either a short beep or a harder click. I imagined this feature was an already anachronistic crutch for people who remembered typewriters and typing pools. At university, I shared an office with a student who made so much noise typing that I could only stop and ponder with amazement. This guy typed like the keyboard was a piece of meat, and his hands were basting mops. Somehow, his fingers mashed out whole words and phrases as he dragged his paws across the keys.

electricslpnsld 7y ago

Ugh in my current open office the team next to me has entered a machismo fueled arms race for who can find the loudest clacky keyboard possible... even with the biggest and baddest noise cancelling cans I could find twelve hours of my day are just clack clack clack, I’m going slowly insane!

deathanatos 7y ago

The blame needs to get placed appropriately here: one shouldn't be bothered by the keyboard; one should be bothered by the horrendous office layout that allows trivial sounds to propagate so easily. I use a mechanical, as the Apple keyboards gave me RSI. My pain has gone away since, and I've not had any complaints about noise. (Much of my office uses mechanical, and most of us do it for our wrists.) I use some of the quieter switches; I'm not in mechanical for the noise, but for the feel & layout. That said, it's about on-par noise wise with an Apple keyboard, but people think mechanical == noise.

newnewpdro 7y ago

It depends on the people, but it's safe to err on the side of yes clickety keyboards annoy some. Nobody will be excessively interrupted/distracted by a quiet keyboard. The same is not true for the other direction. At my last position, open office, a few people on my team complained about other members' loud buckling-spring-like keyboards. Since it was an open office and we were all complaining about noises well beyond some of the keyboards, like sales calls and constant conversations, it was somewhat moot and nothing was really done about it. But it definitely increased animosity within the team, it pays to be especially considerate of your neighbors, particularly ones you need to collaborate with.

pyridines 7y ago

Yes. Absolutely. It's distracting. Clicky switches, like blues and greens, should not be allowed in an open office. It's possible to type softly enough on non-clicky keyboards that they aren't loud, but most of my coworkers seem to love bottoming-out on every stroke. I use QMX-Clips to silence my keyboard. It's only slightly louder than a normal membrane keyboard.

wilsonnb3 7y ago

I've never had any complaints but I use a keyboard with Cherry MX silent switches. Highly recommended if you are worried about the noise, although they are harder to find on keyboards than other switches. The guy I sit next to uses a mechanical Logitech keyboard with their custom switches and I've never heard any complaints about that one, either.