Ask HN: Does anyone else despise mechanical keyboards?

https://imgur.com/a/vOELehA

Am I alone in my preference, here?

I bought this aluminum frame keyboard from SIIG like 10-15 years ago. Short travel and low keys means I type faster. It's quiet. It's sturdy. It has lasted longer than most things, or people!, in my life. We are almost family. :D haha. It's so well loved the shift and ctrl keys are fading. I even left a review (rare for me), because I have gotten such great use out of it. It actually still works. I just have noticed the plastic on the S key is bending finally.

Google, Amazon, old HN threads ..all have not shown me a replacement option. Out of stock, everywhere, as expected.

In order to maintain this level of satisfaction and productivity I am still refusing the popular mechanical keyboards. I really like being able to roll my finger from one key to the next on occasion. You can't do that as well with full-height keys. Can't really at all with chiclet keys. Also, talking to people on meetings while on the phone and typing at the same time is a daily activity... so having one that is quieter is kind of crucial.

I do prefer mechanical - but I have an hybrid one (that reduce the sound) and have smaller key height. I feel i kinda have best of both world.

My first keyboard on a PC was a Buckling spring keyboard from Original IBM PC (XT). Actually I liked the feeling of typing on it and nothing came ever close to it in my opinion.

But.... nowadays I also want to be fast,quiet and small and do not prefer too much typing "force". So since years it's the Apple magic keyboard 1 everywhere https://i.stack.imgur.com/WV6up.jpg Also with an old Macbook Air there is not much difference from Laptop to the wireless keyboard.

would this be better, or worse ?

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-holographic-keyboard.htm

There are no mechanical keyboards in my house - and for good reason. My spouse has misophonia, and the keyboard sounds are one of his triggers. They also keep me from falling asleep. I also don't really like the deep keys - I can type faster on the low-profile keys.

Both of the ones in my house are Logitech Illuminated Keyboard K740 [1]. The physical keys look much like the one you are trying to replace - low profile keys, and seeminly standard sized keyboard. There is a wireless available if you choose. Now, I don't know about wear and tear: My spouse has managed to destroy one of these, but this death also came with a great deal of abuse and dropping. The main issue was lost key covers instead of actual defects. I imagine if we hadn't lost a few bits we'd still have the first one. Mine still works perfectly.

[1]https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/illuminated-keyboard-...