2904 Keyclick 1.0.1 by Sustainable Softworks, Inc. is a counterintuitive piece of software for me. Ever since I started using computers back in the early '90s, silent running has been a quest for me. Actually, my first Mac was one of the most successful at realizing this. It was a compact Mac Plus, which came with a cavernous 20MB external hard drive when I bought it used, but also had the happy facility of being able to boot from a floppy disk. Consequently, I could load Mac System 6 into the 1MB of RAM (I later upgraded to an expansive 2.5 MB), and work in TeachText (ancestor of SimpleText and Text Edit) in relative silence, broken only by occasional grunts from the floppy drive and the sound of the Apple keyboard. That 'board wasn't the noisiest, but the keys had a hard landing (ergonomically awful), and it did make some noise.

The closest I ever came to my silent computing ideal was with my PowerBook 5300 running from a RAM disk with the hard drive spun down. It didn't have a silent keyboard either, but it wasn't too loud.

I digress.

Unlike me, some folks profess to actually like noisy keyboards like the humongous old Apple Extended Keyboard II and the IBM Model M. Beats me, but to each his own. However, since the late '90s most OEM and replacement keyboards, including Apple's, have been of the membrane type, which substitute springy and near-silent rubber domes for the mechanical (and noisy) keyswitches in the older classic keyboards. Actually, not all of the ancient computer keyboards were really loud. My old Wangwriter II word processor has an extremely nice one with a lovely smooth, light, and relatively quiet action. However, the old Wang itself is a noisy beast, with a loud power supply transformer growling away inside.

If you are a noisy keyboard aficionado, aftermarket keyboard maker Matias offers a very stylish one with the same Alps-brand mechanical keyswitches as were used in the Apple Extended Keyboard II. To read my review of the Matias Tactile Pro keyboard, click here.

The The Tactile Pro, which sold for $99.95 has just been replaced by the new Tactile Pro 2.0, which will be available in April 2007. For more information, visit:
http://matias.ca/tactilepro/index.php

However, if you want audible feedback from your keystrokes, there is a cheaper solution - Keyclick is a Mac OS X preference pane that provides subtle audio feedback for each keystroke the system recognizes. The developer says that Human factors work on video terminals in the 1980s showed that the perception of keyboard crispness is correlated with audio feedback, and Keyclick provides that feedback, intended as a practical touch typing aid. Perhaps that's why I'm bemused by all this. I'm not a touch typist.

Keyclick allows you to adjust the volume and pitch of the feedback clicks using sliders on the Keyclick Preferences Panel or with keyboard shortcuts - Cmd-Shift-) for louder, and Cmd-Shift-( for softer. The volume is also affected by the system volume setting.

Features and Benefits claimed for Keyclick
• Provides subtle but important feedback for each keystroke recognized by the system.
• Clicks for each auto-repeated character but does not click for modifier keys.
• Clicks in real time even when the program you are using is too busy to respond.
• Improves touch typing by confirming each successful keystroke.
• Relaxes the need for visual feedback of keyboard input.
• Adjustable keyclick volume directly from the keyboard.
• Simple low cost solution.
New in version 1.0.1:
• Fix to restore keyclick volume when system is restarted and sound API is not available yet.
• Added "Type here to test settings" field.
• Added MacPAD URL.

System support:
Runs on either PPC or Intel (Universal Binary)

To install the software, simply double-click on the Keyclick preference pane. As a System Preference Panel, Mac OS X will ask you if you would like to add it to the System Preferences for this user only, or all users of your system.

The first time you try to enable Keyclick, the software may ask you to "Enable access for assistive devices" in Universal Access Preferences.

In order for Keyclick to observe system wide keyboard events, you must either enable such access.

Open the Keyclick Preference Panel in the System Preference Application. Select Keyclick On, and then adjust the volume as desired. If no keyclick is heard, check that "Play user interface sound effects" is selected in the Sound preferences panel.

I've been using Keyclick 1.0.1 to type this review, and I have to concede that it's not as annoying as I had anticipated, and I'm finding it an entertaining novelty. I don't imagine I will be won over to noisy computing, but I won't gainsay that many people like the audible feedback effect and presumably those studies that found it improves touch typing performance weren't just blowing smoke.

In any case, it's just a tiny 182k download, so give it a try, and if you like it, the price is right.

Keyclick is offered with a fully functional 21 day trial period.

A license is only US $2.50 for up to 5 keyboards you own or control, and the software also works on laptop keyboards.

For more information, visit:
http://www.sustworks.com/site/prod_keyclick_overview.html

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Charles W. Moore

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