Wasn't there a study that suggested users of mechanical keyboards still bottom out for a reasonable percentage of keypresses even though their perception was that they stop on actuation? [Tried to dig it up but came up blank so far.]
I know this is true for gamers, who have to hold keys, but I suspect it's true when typing too. I found that longer travel distance alone doesn't prevent me from pushing through the tactile bump, so it's easy to develop a tendency to over-press should lighter keypresses fail to register.
I don't know about any such study, but I wouldn't be surprised, especially since many people who use regular keyboards have a tendency to hit the keys with a vengeance, as opposed to press them.
I agree with you that longer travel distance is not sufficient to prevent bottoming out. But for me it's necessary. I've been typing for almost 7 years on my current MBP and find I still tend to bottom out. I'm not sure I can not bottom out without paying a lot of attention. On a new mechanical keyboard with brown switches, I found I was able to stop bottoming out most of the time in about a week. It's just easier to do with the longer travel.
One last point to check would be how hard people are bottoming out, especially on switches that don't require a stronger force towards the end. I would think that even if the key might hit the bottom, it might do so with less force than on a shorter travel key.
As I'm thinking of it, at the office I have a MS Sculpt, which is rubber dome but with a reasonable travel distance and the keys don't require much force to push. I probably bottom out most if not all the time on it, but it doesn't seem as tiring. So I guess one main issue is the way people actually use the keyboards. It's possible many apply much more force that is necessary for their keyboard (whichever type it is).
I know this is true for gamers, who have to hold keys, but I suspect it's true when typing too. I found that longer travel distance alone doesn't prevent me from pushing through the tactile bump, so it's easy to develop a tendency to over-press should lighter keypresses fail to register.