Age Old Question

[ErnestoZombie]

Hi there. Long time lurker and fellow mechanical keyswitch afficionado. Love me some Cherry Blues!

I come to you with a question. My company just reorganized and shuffled some people into different spaces within the building.  I didn't move far, but I find myself with some new neighbors.

So my new cubicle neighbor is a buckling spring enthusiast and he uses one as his main keyboard. He hammers on it constantly all day long, even giving some extra punctuation to some keystrokes as if he has just finished typing the works of Shakespeare and has to say "There, I've finally finished that one. Now on to War and Peace".

This goes on all day every day. I'm astonished someone could be so inconsiderate of their co-workers to insist on using a noisy keyboard like that for work. We have work to do too.

Little does he know I have a mechanical keyboard, a DAS with MX Blues which I use at home. But I refuse to bring it to work for fear of it being too loud and bothering my other coworkers. We've briefly discussed mechanicals and it seems his Model M is the greatest keyboard ever in existence! No other keyboard will properly do the job. To him, Cherry's are sub-standard and Topre's are just overpriced rubber domes, and Alps, garbage.

My question to the GH community is: Do you consider his insisting on using a noisy keyboard in an office environment at the expense of the concentration of others, rude or is this perfectly acceptable?

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful responses.
 

[rowdy]

Welcome to geekhack!

If you have been moved around, and he has not, perhaps he had an agreement, albeit a tacit agreement, with others in his area before you were relocated.

Maybe just mention to him the noise, and see what he says, although it seems as if you might already have done so, unsuccessfully.

I was a bit worried that those around me would find my MX blue keys a bit noisy, but with all the arguments, phones ringing, noisy A/C and other background noise, the keys really do not seem to stand out much at all.

[The_Beast]

Hi there. Long time lurker and fellow mechanical keyswitch afficionado. Love me some Cherry Blues!

I come to you with a question. My company just reorganized and shuffled some people into different spaces within the building.  I didn't move far, but I find myself with some new neighbors.

So my new cubicle neighbor is a buckling spring enthusiast and he uses one as his main keyboard. He hammers on it constantly all day long, even giving some extra punctuation to some keystrokes as if he has just finished typing the works of Shakespeare and has to say "There, I've finally finished that one. Now on to War and Peace".

This goes on all day every day. I'm astonished someone could be so inconsiderate of their co-workers to insist on using a noisy keyboard like that for work. We have work to do too.

Little does he know I have a mechanical keyboard, a DAS with MX Blues which I use at home. But I refuse to bring it to work for fear of it being too loud and bothering my other coworkers. We've briefly discussed mechanicals and it seems his Model M is the greatest keyboard ever in existence! No other keyboard will properly do the job. To him, Cherry's are sub-standard and Topre's are just overpriced rubber domes, and Alps, garbage.

My question to the GH community is: Do you consider his insisting on using a noisy keyboard in an office environment at the expense of the concentration of others, rude or is this perfectly acceptable?

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful responses.
 

I use reds at work, and if I need to type something that is really long, I tend to do it slower and try not bottoming out keys. I don't want to be "that guy"

[sth]

maybe you should talk to him instead of complaining to us on the internet about it

he sounds dumb though

[nala]

Welcome to GH!

I use blues for work. Honestly, it doesn't bother that much. There's people talking, phones ringing, printers printing so the clicks just add another instrument to the office orchestra. Nobody ever told me anything about the noise. Only thing I ever get is compliments, or question about how it makes that sound. Once someone told me if I could type a bit quieter because he was on a phone call but that's about it.

Try it out and ask your cubicle neighbors if it bothers them. If they can stand a IBM model M hammerer, then they can easily take a Cherry MX blue switch clicking.

[ErnestoZombie]

Yes, others and I have tried without any luck to let him know his choice of keyboard is a distraction on the same level as having a radio too loud. I just wanted the perspective of others who may have been on either end of this situation. I have enough empathy for others not to be "that guy". Have you ever brought a keyboard to work that others considered too noisy?

[rowdy]

I have a Ducky Shine with Cherry MX blue key switches, as noted, above, and no-one has complained about it yet.  Everyone that has seen it (including a couple clients), especially with the backlighting on, say how nice it looks.

One other guy has used it for about an hour, and said that he could get used to it.

There was one guy used to work here who probably would have complained about it, but then he used to complain about mouses clicking.

Anyway, the clicking of the MX blues is probably quieter than my mouse clicking.  And certainbly quieter than the keys bottoming out all the time.

Occasionally someone here will get excited and/or start another argument, and it is just a case of calling their attention to the extra noise and they usually quieten down.  Maybe I'm lucky, but there is not really anyone here who deliberately tries to distract anyone else.

[NeeGo]

Out-clack him; be it your DAS or grab a Model M. Hopefully the noise would be so unbearable with multiple keyboards click-clacking away to the point where loud keyboards are banned from the office.

[Voixdalion]

Get a Northgate!

[Velma]

Imagine working in an office back in the days when everyone used these because they came with the computers. If someone had a recording from a day at the office back then it could easily be remixed into a DnB  or Berlin-techno tune. it wouldnt surprise me if some diehard keyboard enthusiast would pay lots just for the recording, and use "the buckling springs orchestra" for meditation/soothing noise.

just like some F1 geeks buy CDs of formula 1 car sound and uses it to relieve stress. my dad used to be one of those 

[metalliqaz]

I worked tech support at a large insurance company back when just about every cubicle had a model M.  Thousands of Ms in one building.  I don't remember much noise at all.  Probably for a combination of three reasons.

1) We were used to it
2) The computers were so loud that they masked it
3) Nobody could touch type!

I think it was mostly #3.  There was very little data entry in most of the building.

[hazeluff]

I think its slightly rude to use a loud keyboard disregarding others around you. However if your workplace isn't silent and has people talking and doing things making some noise, I'd find it acceptable to use a keyboard that is not much louder than the sounds you have around the workplace.

[hoggy]

Get a Model M - pref. an SSK or a 122 key.   
I would say the best time for some frantic typing is the very moment after one of his 'flourishes'.  Just to spoil the sense of achievement.
After a few days, start to mod it with dental floss - do it in your lunch break - don't skip this step.  Hopefully, your coworkers can ply on a bit of peer pressure for him to mod his too.

...but you know what?  You're lucky to work with someone who actually cares about the keyboard they use. Normally, I'd suggest that you introduce him to geekhack, but that might not be such a good idea in this case.(or just don't tell him your user name).

Good luck.

[1stGenRex]

Soon after I got mine (Filco with Browns) and typing on it like I was used to typing on my Logitech MX5500, someone mentioned my "loud ass keyboard", to which I replied "well that just means that whatever I'm typing is more important".

Don't try this though. I work in a place where I've spent an entire day trying to zip tie my boss to his chair, and it was cool.

[stingrae]

tbh the loudness of blues is vastly over rated (it's actually the pitch you notice..) and my mx red board is quieter than my neighbours rubber dome.

I can understand him loving the buckling springs, theres a lot of love for them on this forum. At the end of the day he's probably comfortable with what he uses and that should matter to you and him. I dont think you can unsettle him or get him to use something he considers inferior.

Perhaps you could use noise cancelling headphones? I don't think this has a good ending if you upset him but perhaps you arent the only one who finds his keyboard distracting in which case you should find out and then see what can be done. I know different people have vastly different tolerances for sounds so it's an awkward situation. I too wouldn't assume someone had mechanical keyboard at home.

I just know if you forced me to type on rubber domes, i'd kill you on site , ok I wouldn't but you get the idea.

As said find out if he knows the floss mod as that might be something he'd consider and I agree people pay so little attention to their keyboard despite it being the majority of their interface with the computer. I have a friend who is completely reluctant to try mech as what he has 'works', where as i'm always looking to improve my living/working conditions meh.

[Lanx]

To him, Cherry's are sub-standard and Topre's are just overpriced rubber domes, and Alps, garbage.

My question to the GH community is: Do you consider his insisting on using a noisy keyboard in an office environment at the expense of the concentration of others, rude or is this perfectly acceptable?

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful responses.
 

i agree with that assessment (even tho a kinesis is my daily driver), however he has to "roll" with the times.

60 years ago it was crazy loud typewriters, pop in saving private ryan and the beginning scene where the secretaries type up all the dead ryan brothers is loud.

Now we have a green initiative, quieter pcs', 99% RD keyboards in all offices and no smoking (as opposed to even 10 years ago)

if he wants to use his model m and feel snobby about it, he's gonna have to do it with a dental floss mod and whatever else mod geekhack has to quiet down model m's. The keyboard feels great, it's a great switch, you will not loose any "oomph" by quieting that loud sucker.

[kurplop]

I'm sure he isn't being intentionally rude. He's probably just like a smoker who simply cannot understand how nonsmokers dislike the smell of his fine tobacco smoke. He's probably more ignorant or insensitive than rude. That may sound a little strong; how about unaware?

If the noise is that much of a distraction, as difficult as it is, I would suggest talking to him directly about it. How about "I'm a keyboard enthusiast myself and can appreciate  your love for the model M but is there anything you can do to reduce the noise level? It's really a distraction."  You may find him willing to make some kind of compromise.  The next step could be to ask your superior if you could be reassigned to a different spot because of the noise. You may not be the first to have made such a request!

Out-clack him; be it your DAS or grab a Model M. Hopefully the noise would be so unbearable with multiple keyboards click-clacking away to the point where loud keyboards are banned from the office.

I'm not sure that would work.  It's like " bringing a knife to a gunfight!"

I think all of us noisy keyboarders would be wise to remember two things.
1. Many people will not be honest if you ask "This noise isn't bothering you, is it? Instead ask "Is this noise bothering you?"
 2.It is lack of manners that lead to imposed restrictions that may be more severe than our reasonable compromises. 

 

[jkercado]

Oh, I'm an office buckling spring user, with an Unicomp Ultra Classic. It's not excessively noisy; apparently your co-worker doesn't know how to "float" his fingers when typing, and thus is wasting away the magic of the buckling springs (in fact, of mechanical keyboard overall). There's a big difference when you keep your typing light and floaty on the keys; I betcha that the guy is hammering away at the poor thing.

To give you an example, my co-worker here types with a Das with blues; he sounds like a machine gun when typing because he just hammers at the thing mercilessly (plus he's ridiculously fast). He's noisier than me, even though I have the older technology.

Overall, I don't know...I make only as much noise as necessary, and even comparing to regular cheap rubber domes, the sound difference isn't that astoundingly great. Also, my workplace is very dynamic, and there's always people talking, communicating, or typing furiously, so I guess that drowns me out a bit.

In the end, I don't know....I kinda rambled up there.

[daerid]

We have 5 devs at the office. 3 of us already have mechanical boards. At one the 2 other guys were using Cherry Blues, and I was on a Unicomp.

It was bliss. The sound of mechanical keyboards is soothing, how can it be distracting? I don't get this...

[jkercado]

The sound of mechanical keyboards is soothing, how can it be distracting? I don't get this...

It's the sound of productivity, dammit!

[kurplop]

We have 5 devs at the office. 3 of us already have mechanical boards. At one the 2 other guys were using Cherry Blues, and I was on a Unicomp.

It was bliss. The sound of mechanical keyboards is soothing, how can it be distracting? I don't get this...

I would like to first say that I don't work in an office with others so I admit I may not know what I'm talking about. Second, I like the sound of a keyboard in use so I have nothing against the enchanting sound of a keyboard in able hands. Third,  I have nothing against others who get enjoyment out of using a quality keyboard. I would only like to help clarify why others may not share our joy.

A room full of typing can be soothing. A single one, maybe not. I love the sound of waves pounding on the beach or fresh water flowing over boulders. I even like the sound of the impulse sprinklers in my yard. I am however greatly annoyed by a dripping faucet. Strange isn't it, how the mesmerizing orchestration of constant or regular, predictable noise  can be soothing. The occasional irregular sound isn't, it's usually just distracting or annoying.

I also like the sounds I make, even the loud ones.  I know when they're coming and I can stop or start them at will.  I don't think I'd like clients calling and not being able to hear them because of the noise coming from the desk next to me.

Years ago I liked cars, Fast cars. My friends and I would hang out in someones driveway revving up our uncapped big blocked muscle cars and say things like "twitchin man, twitchin", always wondering why the neighbors would never come over and congratulate us on our promising skills. I finally got it.

Many of you work in an environment that is noisy keyboard friendly. To you I say enjoy! To the rest, you're not impressing them, try to show some deference.