Are not all keyboards mechanical?

  • infinitevalence@discuss.onlineEnglish
    20·
    11 days ago

    Specifically mechanical in this context refers to the switch type.

    But no not all keyboards are mechanical.

    Touch screen keyboards for example, projected keyboards, VR keyboards.

    Rubber domed keyboards are the most common cheap keyboard you get with a Dell and while the key stroke is mechanical the feel is not comparable to older style keyboards with a mechanical switch like cherry or alps.

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      4·
      11 days ago

      I suppose that one could also hypothetically use a keyboard with only capacitive keys. Such a keyboard wouldn’t have mechanical components even in the technical sense.

      I also imagine that actually using a keyboard like that would be pretty awful.

      searches

      Apparently they do make them. This one is aimed at hospitals, where you can’t have crevices or anything:

      https://www.ergocanada.com/detailed_specification_pages/gett_cleankeys_ck5_wired_capacitive_desktop_glass_keyboard.html

    • GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      3·
      11 days ago

      I forgot about the- touch screen (LOL, even that is all I have to use, this time in my life), projected & VR keyboards.

      You are more knowledgeable about keyboards, than I am. So I do not know what you mean by switch type & Rubber domed, Cherry & Alps are.

      For a second there, I thought you were referring to the analog type typewritters’ keyboards. Of course is if those are keyboards, they probably are not.

      • calliope@retrolemmy.com
        3·
        11 days ago

        A switch is a thing that selectively completes a circuit. There are several types of switches that work for keyboards, “mechanical” being one of them.

        “Rubber domed” is a type of switch that has fewer parts, using a metal “dome” for each key that is pushed when you type. They don’t use anything “mechanical,” which makes them take up less space and makes them feel different than a switch that has actual mechanical mechanisms.

        Mechanical switches, “cherry” and “alps” being specific types of those, have an actual spring, rail components, and other parts.

        The latter is referred to as “mechanical” because it has mechanical parts, whereas the domed switches do not.

        Then over time, people shortened “a keyboard with mechanical switches” to “mechanical keyboard.”

        Hope this helps!