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A famous mechanical keyboard site claims that:

Many mechanical keyboard fans rave at the loud, clicky sound they produce when using one of these keyboards. As mentioned above, the mechanical switches that make this loud noise are what’s ensuring the computer registers every single keystroke, therefore improving typing accuracy.

A few writers and programmers have tested their typing speed and accuracy with mechanical keyboards, and the results are impressive. One writer found that he was able to put in 91 words per minute at 100% accuracy, which meant he could type a whopping 900 additional words per hour with less errors. Imagine how much more your employees could accomplish with this ability.

Mechanical Keyboard
(source)

They claim this is based on a few "impressive" results and provide one anecdote. Are there any valid studies on the matter?

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Sklivvz
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    Compared to what? –  Jun 10 '14 at 18:28
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    Compared to normal keyboard without mechanical switches. – Sklivvz Jun 10 '14 at 18:37
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    Oh wow. I thought mechanical keyboards *were* the norm. I was just looking at Wikipedia's article on keyboards. Seems like there are many types of non-mechanical keyboards. I guess the comparison is against all of them in aggregate? –  Jun 10 '14 at 18:41
  • Either way, they don't specify it so we can give the claim the maximum possibility of being true. – Sklivvz Jun 10 '14 at 18:43
  • I don't see where they claim they have experimental results... Could you quote that (even in a comment here) so I can try to track that down? –  Jun 10 '14 at 19:02
  • Anyone answering might want to go the opposite direction and see if there are any studies on something like capacitive keyboards to see if there is a change in typing accuracy. I like to say that dome-switch keyboards are the most common (borderline mechanical) so there might be a way to get an answer that is not perfect but close. – rjzii Jun 10 '14 at 19:59
  • @Articuno added the paragraph - they don't claim there are scientific studies, but they do claim that it works in general. – Sklivvz Jun 10 '14 at 20:07
  • Is this a notable claim? – msmucker0527 Jun 10 '14 at 20:24
  • @msmucker0527 yes, I believe it is (among programmers) – Sklivvz Jun 10 '14 at 20:56
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    Please avoid anecdotal stories about the keyboards you prefer, and stick to empirical data. Comments deleted. – Oddthinking Jun 11 '14 at 06:56
  • *"the mechanical switches that make this loud noise"* and there actually are studies proving, that noise in workplace *reduces* productivity. As for notability of the claim among programmers, there are quite some who are absolutely convinced about mechanical being better. OTOH, it's undisputed claim among gamers, that mechanical keyboards are superior. But that's very specific use, much different than everyday typing. – vartec Jun 11 '14 at 16:11
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    For notability of the claim: http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-keyboard-cult/ – vartec Jun 11 '14 at 16:14

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