What's the deal with switch stickers?

[DrinkTea]

What exactly do they do and do the different colors mean anything?

[Pacifist]

Colors mean nothing. They're supposed to reduce sway with the houseing

[Psybin]

I've been curious about these also. What kind of difference does it make, is it like ZOMGWOW or meh, or just placebo?

[Pacifist]

I've been curious about these also. What kind of difference does it make, is it like ZOMGWOW or meh, or just placebo?

Some people claim its zomgwow. Its not meh, some say its placebo. It does help, but the amount it does isnt super amazing unless you're picky af

[Photekq]

Some people claim its zomgwow. Its not meh, some say its placebo. It does help, but the amount it does isnt super amazing unless you're picky af

I can honestly say I've seen anyone say stickers aren't a placebo. They do literally nothing imo, they just make the switches look kinda cool.

Please see the OP of simple questions, simple answers, it should answer your questions : http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40501.0

[catnipz0098]

If they make them look cool, I'm going to use some! 

[SpAmRaY]

Some people claim its zomgwow. Its not meh, some say its placebo. It does help, but the amount it does isnt super amazing unless you're picky af

I can honestly say I've seen anyone say stickers aren't a placebo. They do literally nothing imo, they just make the switches look kinda cool.

Please see the OP of simple questions, simple answers, it should answer your questions : http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40501.0

I think some koreans would say they change the feel and typing experience.

I could maybe see them doing something on pcb mount switches but not plate mounted.

But yeah mostly just for looks and to say the switches are stickered, tuned, modded etc.

[nubbinator]

Some claim they help keep dust out.  Some claim they help stabilize older switches that may have a wobbly housing without them.  As someone who uses them, I say they're just pretty looking and do nothing.

[DrinkTea]

Got it. Well, this really is another thing we can test. I keep saying I'll lend my stat skills to see what's real and what's fake but no one seems to want to work with me.
Do people not do keyboard science anymore after that dude who said it all the time got kicked out or something?

[nubbinator]

There's keyboard science and there's keyboard "science".  The trick with some of the controversies is designing an experiment that actually tests the issue based upon objective measures.  Far too many of the issues that are controversial are tested largely in subjective fashions or use methodologies that are borderline. 

On issues like the switch sticker. I don't really see an objective way to test the claims without some rather expensive equipment.

[SpAmRaY]

Got it. Well, this really is another thing we can test. I keep saying I'll lend my stat skills to see what's real and what's fake but no one seems to want to work with me.
Do people not do keyboard science anymore after that dude who said it all the time got kicked out or something?

No, keyboard science is clearly forbidden.

But seriously....most of these things are opinions and based on 'feelings'

[JayG30]

There's keyboard science and there's keyboard "science".  The trick with some of the controversies is designing an experiment that actually tests the issue based upon objective measures.  Far too many of the issues that are controversial are tested largely in subjective fashions or use methodologies that are borderline. 

On issues like the switch sticker. I don't really see an objective way to test the claims without some rather expensive equipment.

I don't think its any different then testing the ability of people to hear a difference between different lossy audio codecs and bit rates. I did a fairly large study years ago on aac, vorbis, and mp3 (lame encoder) at CBR and VBR's between 64kbps to 320kbps. The method I used is ABX testing which I'd expect people to be familiar with. There are some other testing methods that could be used as well. Its a lot of work but the results tend to be very consistent and clear. For something like this though it shouldn't be to difficult to determine if the effects are noticeable without the person knowing which keys contain what and for them to also note which they prefer. There aren't to many variables as long as you don't start trying to compare tons of different keyboards and cases.

[DrinkTea]

Yes, exactly. It would be very easy to design a series of experiments to test a number of factors. You could even group it by level of experience. Not hard at all. Come on, doesn't anyone want to do keyboard statistics and keyboard experimental design?

[catnipz0098]

There's keyboard science and there's keyboard "science".  The trick with some of the controversies is designing an experiment that actually tests the issue based upon objective measures.  Far too many of the issues that are controversial are tested largely in subjective fashions or use methodologies that are borderline. 

On issues like the switch sticker. I don't really see an objective way to test the claims without some rather expensive equipment.

I don't think its any different then testing the ability of people to hear a difference between different lossy audio codecs and bit rates. I did a fairly large study years ago on aac, vorbis, and mp3 (lame encoder) at CBR and VBR's between 64kbps to 320kbps. The method I used is ABX testing which I'd expect people to be familiar with. There are some other testing methods that could be used as well. Its a lot of work but the results tend to be very consistent and clear. For something like this though it shouldn't be to difficult to determine if the effects are noticeable without the person knowing which keys contain what and for them to also note which they prefer. There aren't to many variables as long as you don't start trying to compare tons of different keyboards and cases.

Now this is exactly where we already know the answer.

Pretty much only audiophiles can detect the quality loss, but regular people still enjoy the loseless files. But they find it not necessary.

The Koreans are such keyboard experts that they have figured out that stickers matter. To us regular people, its nice, but we can't really feel the difference.

[DrinkTea]

http://gizmodo.com/363154/audiophile-deathmatch-monster-cables-vs-a-coat-hanger

What's the saying? "Trust but verify"?

[noisyturtle]

Honestly I don't think they do anything functional at all. Prove me wrong!




They look nice though.... when you have your caps off. But YOU know they are there, that's what's important right?

[Oobly]

They tighten up the switch housing by reducing movement of the top casing. This reduces play in the stem just a little. Not a lot, but it's nice to do if you've got the switches open already.

It's most noticeable on switches which have less of the stem slider area in contact with the rails in the bottom casing and rely on the top casing to help stabilise the stem, like the clicky switches (blue, green and white). Less noticeable on tactile and linear switches (brown, clear, red, black, etc.)

The colour is just for looks.

[JayG30]

Pretty much only audiophiles can detect the quality loss, but regular people still enjoy the loseless files. But they find it not necessary.

You'd be surprised with some of the findings we had. I had 50-60 year olds that were NOT audiophiles, that were able to detect a clear difference using QUALITY headphones between 128kbps (which was a common bit rate through iTunes, not sure anymore) compared to higher bit rates. FYI, when we did the experiment we found that vorbis performed best at lower bitrates, but tended to have a slightly larger file size then AAC. At around 192kbps VBR encoding most subjects were unable to tell a difference between any of the codecs. However there was a larger then expected percentage of people that could distinguish 192kbps and even 256kbps and a lossless file. Not 50% or anything, but much higher then I expected. We did a fair amount of variables. Codecs (AAC, Vorbis, MP3), bitrates (64,128,192,256,320,lossless), various music clips, various ages and genders. Of course the various encoders have advanced since then, so no idea what the results would be now.

[Wildcard]

DrinkTea for some reason I read your thread in Jerry Seinfeld's voice.

What's the deal with switch stickers? I mean is a switch, still not a good switch, without the sticker?

[SpAmRaY]

[noisyturtle]

(Attachment Link)

Exactly my thoughts, "What's the deal with switch stickers? You put 'em on your boards, and you're not sure their doing anything at all. I mean what is this, dress up time? Should I cover my keyboard in Hello Kitty stickers like my Voltron trapperkeeper from grade school?"

[Moosecraft]

 We have to follow the koreanz man

[Internetlad]

Honestly I can't see how it would make any difference (bear in mind, never used em myself)

Looking right now at my switches, I can see about a .3mm deviation in the housing itself moving, vs a .7mm-1mm deviation in the stem moving back and forth. Maybe they should be making stickers for the stems instead.

This is a Rosewill board so IIRC its plate mounted Costar. Since the switches themselves would be the same maybe on boards that allowed more play on the switch itself they'd make a difference, but not to me.