Purpose:

> That way you can be certain whether or not you entered a character

And the shoulder surger can still count the number of times it changes so you might as well just be normal.

They can also count the number of keystrokes they heard.

	▲	Tepix 15 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The echoed stars should disappear when you press enter, that way you are not revealing this information when you share a screen capture.
	▲	oneeyedpigeon 15 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Surely looking at your screen seconds/minutes/hours later is the greater risk vector?
	▲	ErroneousBosh 13 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		ATM keypads are very carefully designed so that all the buttons sound exactly the same, so you can't lift a PIN by recording the sound. I've seen this demonstrated, using "Cherry" type keyswitches, with about a 75% success rate. I also knew an old guy who could tell what an ASR33 or Creed teleprinter was printing just by the sound, with "good enough" accuracy, and copy RTTY by ear with "good enough" accuracy. He didn't really talk about his time in the Royal Signals in the 50s and 60s very much.

▲

blackhaz 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's surprising to see an OS, dominant as a sever platform, now optimizing catering to people who are unsure whether they've pressed a button on their keyboard. What's next, replacing asterisks with a progress bar?

	▲	johnisgood 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		You are down-voted, but if we consider this to be the reason, it is indeed sad. You can no longer filter out power users of computers based on their choice of OS alone. :D
	▲	rabf 14 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Password recovery where you enter your mothers maiden name and favourite food.