Without transistors, we would still be using vacuum tubes and mechanical switches to make calculations.

The first act of automation was to replace Mabel with a mechanical switch.

Local phone companies still work that way: they route all the neighborhood telephone wires to a single building, where mechanical switches make connections.

Most mechanical switches are built to operate 10,000 cycles before failure, which is about 30 years for a cycle rate of 1 action per day.

Activation was typically through a mechanical switch attached to the door control.

Early forms used a mechanical switch to detect steps together with a simple counter.

Computers are at work in the lighting room, too, which was once full of mechanical switches and levers but is now computer controlled.

I need to look and see if my Microsoft Ergonomic from 5-10 years ago has mechanical switches.

A few rural areas still use relays and mechanical switches over 40 years old.

This rivals the mechanical switch, which requires a constant force pressing on it.