Cherry MX switches are an industry standard for keyboards, keypads, and the like.
When the German institute of standards (DIN) as the first regulator realizing the importance of standardization and keyboard ergonomics (e.g. lower profile) set up a committee, a panel of manufacturers and users, to come up with new ideas for keyboard design in 1984(?) (source) Cherry already had been working on a “low profile” witch.
The new target height of 3 cm, defined by the panel, measured at the middle/home row, was impossible to achieve with most older keyswitches, so Cherry’s MX switch became one of the first solutions. Practically, it was the low profile switch of the time. – via Keyboard Builder’s Digest
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