@Chyros: Regarding precision mass detection, in my analytical chemistry lab course, if we made mistakes, the instructor banished us from the Mettler balances and we had to go back to the twin-pan analytical balances we initially trained on. These relics were actually quite sensitive, and the twin pan made it easy to see that you were actually comparing masses. I recall handling the weights with ivory-tipped forceps. The more advanced twin-pan balances were "Chain-o-Matics" -- you could turn a crank to dial in the last decimal by altering the fraction of a hanging gold chain contributing its mass to the right-hand side of the balance. I also had occasion to use a Cahn microbalance -- capable of a sensitivity of 0.1 microgram.
Thanks for displaying the force-displacement curves for Alps switches. I wish the creators of such graphs would keep color-blind people in mind. I am not really color blind, just color challenged -- I have difficulty seeing the difference between certain colors or correctly identifying some colors against certain background colors. It helps me if color figures can be interpreted correctly when they are rendered in gray scale.
This morning I checked out my Zenith Z-150 black label with linear green Alps. The switches are very smooth but I prefer some tactile feedback. I had also hoped that the steel back on the case would make the Zenith feel more solid to type on than my Leading Edge DC-2014, but it didn't feel more solid to me. In addition, a major disappointment was that there was one dead key on the board -- the C key. I haven't determined the cause as yet. BTW, which "green" Alps are in the Z-150?
Among Alps switches that I have tried thus far, my favorites are still the white Alps in my Northgate Omnikey 101 -- they have an ideal combination of weight, crisp tactility, and subtle clickiness.
On the force-displacement graph, I am having trouble distinguishing the white curve from the cream curve. Do the initial peaks correspond to actuation? Which one has the sharp spike versus smooth curve at the initial peak, and which one has the "aftershock" peaks? The initial peak for blues appears later than that for several of the others -- is this difference significant and does it correspond to different actuation points? If I am interpreting all this correctly, perhaps one reason I like whites better than blues is that I prefer a higher actuation point.