If the switch is of sufficient quality you do not need a sound to let you know it's accepted your command as you just know it's going to do the job without even thinking about it.v0lterra said:I don't understand this dislike of switches that click when you press them. Audible feedback is good. Quiet switches are a move in the wrong direction. When I click the mouse while I'm typing this, it clicks (the clue is in verb to click a mouse). That's good because it confirms I've pressed the button.
I thought a much more valid criticism in the review was that pressing the heater fan switch didn't do anything other than bring up a menu on the touch screen. It could so easily toggle the fan to the next speed, which would be much safer.
Anyway, this definition of what constitutes luxury as being a certain texture of plastic or a more silent button just amazes me. Luxury is comfort. Last time I changed my car I test drove a BMW 3. I was appalled by the hard seats and bone jarring ride. I can't understand why it's regarded as being the class leader when it has all the ride comfort of an unladen Transit. Possibly down to the run-flat tyres but they were the standard equipment at the time.
You will be aware then that numerous switches in all kinds of items are now quiet compared to earlier designs.v0lterra said:Typing on a phone in a train and operating car controls are two different applications. Driving a car, it is better if you have multiple sources of feedback that you have successfully operated the control. Visual feedback is the least desirable because it requires you to take your eyes of the road. Better alternatives are movement -- the physical sensation of moving a button against resistance -- or sound, or preferably both.
I am a Chartered Electrical Engineer and have specified many switches in many applications. The fundamental measure of a switch's quality is the number of operations before it fails. The noise or silence of its operation has no bearing on this. Low quality switches can be noisy or silent. The same is true of high quality.