A keyboard with a small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of chewing gum. (Chiclets is the brand name of a variety of chewing gum that does in fact resemble the keys of chiclet keyboards). Used especially to describe the original {IBM PCjr} keyboard. Vendors unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early portable and {laptop computers} were launched with them. Customers rejected the idea with almost equal unaniMITy, and chiclets are not often seen on anything larger than a digital watch any more. [Jargon File] (1997-05-16)
