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It's interesting how some terms take on a life of their own - as someone not very familiar with the intricacies of keyboards (and someone who has happily used t
by rob74 6y ago
It's interesting how some terms take on a life of their own - as someone not very familiar with the intricacies of keyboards (and someone who has happily used the same membrane keyboard for ten years), I'm a bit puzzled that the term "mechanical" only applies to keyboards with individual switches. For me, any keyboard with moving keys is "mechanical", so only an on-screen keyboard may qualify as "non-mechanical".
BTW, do the good old "buckling spring" keyboards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckling_spring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckling_spring) qualify as "mechanical" by this categorization? I still have one of those (from an old IBM PS/1000, from the age before Windows keys) lying around somewhere...
- skjoldr 6y agoThat would be an IBM Model M, they are still quite popular in the community and Unicomp still makes them. You should look up the model number. Here's a good video on them: https://youtu.be/r5H58uudo1Y https://youtu.be/r5H58uudo1Y
- chevill 6y agoIn this context they aren't referring to the keyboard as "mechanical". They are indeed all mechanical. Mechanical Keyboard is just short for "Mechanical Switch Keyboard". I can see how it would be easily confusing for someone not into the hobby. Buckling spring keyboards do indeed count as mechanical switch keyboards. I haven't used one since I was a kid but they were very cool.