Chiclet keyboard

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MacBook chiclet keyboard

A chiclet keyboard, or island-style keyboard, is a type of input device for electronic systems such as personal computers, calculators and remote controls that uses keys in the shape of small squares with rounded corners and straight sides, in the style of Chiclets, an American chewing gum brand. A perforated bezel fills the gaps between the keys.[1]

The term has changed meaning in recent years. During the first home computer boom of the 1980s, a chiclet keyboard was synonymous with cheap quality and a poor user experience. Nowadays, the term is neutral and refers to low-profile, low-travel keyboards with simplified, flat bezel-separated keycaps that other than their appearance function like contemporary computer keyboards.


Rubber chiclet calculator keyboard

The term first appeared during the home computer era of the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The TRS-80 Color Computer,[2] TRS-80 MC-10,[3] and Timex Sinclair 2068[4] were all described as having "chiclet keys".

This style of keyboard was met with poor reception. John Dvorak wrote that it was "associated with $99 el cheapo computers".[5] The keys on Sinclair ZX Spectrum computers were "rubber dome keys" which were sometimes described as "dead flesh",[6] while the feel of the IBM PCjr's chiclet keyboard was reportedly compared to "massaging fruit cake".[7] Its quality was such that an amazed Tandy executive, whose company had previously released a computer with a similarly unpopular keyboard, asked "How could IBM have made that mistake with the PCjr?"[8]

Two decades later the term instead describes low-profile, low-travel scissor keyboards with simplified, flat keycaps separated by a bezel. Sony was the first modern laptop manufacturer to make use of this keyboard style with the release of the VAIO X505 in 2004.[9]


The underlying technology used by such keyboards varies considerably. In some cases the keys themselves are integral to the backing membrane and deform when pressed to complete an electrical contact, while in other cases the keys have individual low-travel scissor switches.




Simplified design[edit]


Other versions of the chiclet keyboard omit the upper membrane and hole/spacer layers; instead the underside of the rubber keys themselves have a conductive coating. When the key is pushed, the conductive underside makes contact with the traces on the bottom layer, and bridges the gap between them, thus completing the circuit. Grooves between hollow domes on the underside permit air to flow out of a dome when a key is pressed, and let air come back in when released.


List of early computers with chiclet keyboards[edit]


See also[edit]


  1. ^ "So what is a ‘chiclet’ keyboard anyway?", Netbook Choice, 9 April 2009.
  2. ^ "The Coco Chronicles"
  6. ^ "Sinclair ZX Spectrum".
  8. ^ "FROM HOME TO BUSINESS: THE ECLECTIC RADIO SHACK COMPUTER LINE". InfoWorld. 1984-08-20. pp. 47–52. Retrieved May 26, 2011. 
  9. ^ "What the Vaio Z says about Sony's little design problem". 
  10. ^ "Chicklet Keyboard frm IBM PC Jr". DigiBarn Computer Museum.