But I would assume that you conoisseurs would be able to tell just from touch!?
Most of the time. :-)
The stroke of rubber dome keyboards is often a large bump at or near the beginning followed by the landing. The large initial resistance invites the typists to press harder, so that when you are past the bump you press the key to the bottom (called "bottoming out"), where the actuation point is. The worse rubber domes give very little tactile feedback and are mushy at the bottom.
A mechanical switch will allow you to press the key down a mm or two before you can feel any tactile feedback - if there is any at all, but if you get it, then it is
distinct. The actuation point is often near the middle of the stroke -- at (or near) where any tactile feedback would occur.
Most rubber domes have a very soft landing -- sometimes a very mushy one. Most mechanicals have a hard landing.
There are exceptions to both, though. For instance, the "Cream ALPS" switch in Apple Extended Keyboard II is mechanical but feels a whole lot like a better rubber dome keyboard. There is a rubber dome keyboard made by NMB which was sold under many different brands (SGI, DEC, HP, Compaq...) that is light and bottoms out hard.
Then there are the "capacitative foam and foil" keyboards, but they are very rare. They can have a spring
or a rubber cup, actuate in the middle of the stroke, and are always mushy at the bottom.
