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 esp. to describe the original IBM PCjr
keyboard. Vendors unanimously liked these because they were cheap,
and a lot of early portable and laptop products got launched using
them. Customers rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and
chiclets are not often seen on anything larger than a digital watch
any more.
