Editing Mechanical keyboard (section)

===Lay usage===
Arguably the best-known "mechanical" keyboard (at least, in lay usage) is the IBM Enhanced Keyboard, colloquially known as the IBM Model M. Model M keyboards are [[membrane keyboard]]s and would not fit well into the definition of "mechanical" denoting metal contacts. "Mechanical" has also been applied to [[Topre switch]]es, which do not use metal contacts.{{citation needed}}

As such, the term "mechanical" gets used to categorize keyboards with high quality [[:Category:Keyboard switches|switches]], regardless of the technology. This would imply that cheaply-made and unreliable metal contact keyboards should be excluded from being classed as "mechanical", which risk creating more confusion instead of less.

The term is sometimes defined as a keyboard that uses a switching mechanism which makes use of some sort of metal spring (thus including the IBM Model M), or a switch that actuates at some point before the end of the switch's travel. These definitions are somewhat meaningless, given the huge variation in quality across different switch designs that have these properties. Consequently, some people prefer to use terms such as "high quality keyboards", or to refer to the keyboards by their specific switch type.<ref>Deskthority — [http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/we-need-a-better-adjective-than-mechanical-t3930.html We need a better adjective than "mechanical".]</ref>