This whole comment feels pretty bunk and I am surprised at the confidence with which it is written.
> It's really disrespectful to use a loud / mechanical keyboard in a public place, or really when anyone else is nearby.
It isn't. Public places come with noise. By this snippet, even speaking would be disrespectful in a public place.
> This lets folks use normal/good keyboards and still satisfy the weird craving some have for mechanical noises through their own headphones.
Good keyboards are subjective. It is weirdly reductive to refer to keyboard sounds as a craving.
> Probably will save some RSI surgeries too, people can use healthy low key travel keyboards instead of high travel mechanical switches, while still getting the clicking sound they want.
Low travel keyboards are not healthy. Regular keyboards are not unhealthy. There are not correlations between them. The nature of RSI means that experiences will differ and what works or doesn't work for you will not be the same for me.
Of course public spaces come with noise, but creating more noise than you need to is disrespectful. It's no different to having bad hygiene, using more space than you need or public flatulence. These things are unpleasant or inconvenient for others so should be kept to a minimum. In general one should seek to minimise their footprint wherever possible.
The spoken word is probably the single most difficult common specific sound to filter out - it's probably the sound we're most hardwired to pick out from background noise and process, possibly second to the sounds of an aggressive wild animal.
Audible conversation is incredibly distracting - we put up with it in the workplace because workers need to collaborate and communicate. There's a reason it's heavily frowned upon in places where people intend to hear something specific (theatres, churches) or focus deeply (libraries).
Your Cherry MX Blue switches probably aren't going to be welcome in any of those spaces either though.
> It's really disrespectful to use a loud / mechanical keyboard in a public place, or really when anyone else is nearby.
It isn't. Public places come with noise. By this snippet, even speaking would be disrespectful in a public place.
> This lets folks use normal/good keyboards and still satisfy the weird craving some have for mechanical noises through their own headphones.
Good keyboards are subjective. It is weirdly reductive to refer to keyboard sounds as a craving.
> Probably will save some RSI surgeries too, people can use healthy low key travel keyboards instead of high travel mechanical switches, while still getting the clicking sound they want.
Low travel keyboards are not healthy. Regular keyboards are not unhealthy. There are not correlations between them. The nature of RSI means that experiences will differ and what works or doesn't work for you will not be the same for me.