Editing Chiclet keyboard

{{Short description|Type of keyboard using flat keys separated by bezels}}
{{multiple issues|{{see talk|2=too many issues to list here; see Talk page}}}}
[[File:Cherry flachtastatur IMGP3072 wp.jpg|thumb|right|A white standard wired chiclet keyboard (flat keyboard)]]

A '''chiclet keyboard''' is a [[computer keyboard]] with keys that form an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like [[eraser]]s or "[[Chiclets]]", a brand of [[chewing gum]] manufactured in the shape of small squares with rounded corners. It is an evolution of the [[membrane keyboard]], using the same principle of a single rubber sheet with individual electrical switches underneath each key, but with the addition of an additional upper layer which provides superior tactile feedback through a buckling mechanism. The term "chiclet keyboard" is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to '''island-style keyboards'''.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Since the mid-1980s, chiclet keyboards have been mainly restricted to lower-end electronics, such as small handheld [[calculator]]s, cheap [[Personal Digital Assistant|PDA]]s and many [[remote control]]s, though the name is also used to refer to [[Keyboard technology#Scissor-switch keyboard|scissor keyboard]]s with superficially similar appearance.

== History ==

The term first appeared during [[home computer|the home computer era]] of the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The [[TRS-80 Color Computer]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/coco/text/history.html|title=Coco Chronicles|website=www.cs.unc.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001202100100/http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/coco/text/history.html|archive-date=2000-12-02}}</ref> [[TRS-80 MC-10]],<ref>[http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n10/39_The_TRS80_MC10_too_lit.php The TRS-80 MC-10: too little, too late for too much? (evaluation)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617113806/http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n10/39_The_TRS80_MC10_too_lit.php |date=2013-06-17 }}. Owen W. Linzmayer, ''Creative Computing'' Vol. 9, No. 10. October 1983. 39</ref> and [[Timex Sinclair 2068]]<ref>[http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n3/93_The_TimexSinclair_2068.php "The Timex-Sinclair 2068. (evaluation)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622034137/http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n3/93_The_TimexSinclair_2068.php |date=2011-06-22 }}. Owen W. Linzmayer, ''Creative Computing'' Vol. 10, No. 3. March 1984. p. 93. (atarimagazines.com).</ref> were all described as having "chiclet keys".

This style of keyboard has been met with a poor reception. [[John Dvorak]] wrote that it was "associated with $99 el cheapo computers".<ref name="dvorak19831128">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sy8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA188 | title=Inside Track | work=InfoWorld | date=1983-11-28 | accessdate=23 March 2016 | author=Dvorak, John C. | pages=188 | archive-date=2023-03-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309181238/https://books.google.com/books?id=sy8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA188 | url-status=live }}</ref> The keys on [[ZX Spectrum]] computers are "rubber dome keys" which were sometimes described as "dead flesh",<ref>[http://computermuseum.50megs.com/brands/zxspectrum.htm "Sinclair ZX Spectrum"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060511152218/http://computermuseum.50megs.com/brands/zxspectrum.htm |date=2006-05-11 }}. ComputerMuseum.50megs.com.</ref> while the feel of the [[IBM PCjr]]'s chiclet keyboard was reportedly compared to "massaging fruit cake".<ref name="sandler19840221">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCIvSU6Y2GAC&pg=PA323 | title=A Secret Inside The ROM | work=PC Magazine | date=1984-02-21 | accessdate=24 October 2013 | author=Sandler, Corey | pages=323 | archive-date=2023-03-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309181202/https://books.google.com/books?id=UCIvSU6Y2GAC&pg=PA323 | url-status=live }}</ref> Its quality was such that an amazed [[RadioShack|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?"<ref name="iw19840820">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50 | title=FROM HOME TO BUSINESS: THE ECLECTIC RADIO SHACK COMPUTER LINE | accessdate=May 26, 2011 | date=1984-08-20 | work=InfoWorld | pages=47–52 | archive-date=2023-03-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309181229/https://books.google.com/books?id=HS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50 | url-status=live }}</ref>

== Design ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
{{See also|Keyboard technology}}
[[File:Chiclet keyboard medium.png|thumb|Stylised cross-section of a "rubber" Chiclet keyboard. Under the left key is air space (light grey), just below the upper red conductive layer. The thickness of the bottom three layers is exaggerated for clarity; in real-life they are not much thicker than paper. Note the distortion of the thin rubber where the right-hand key (pressed) joins the sheet. Some designs omit the top membrane (green) and hole (black) layers, instead coating the undersides of the keys themselves with conductive material (red).]]

Chiclet keyboards operate under essentially the same mechanism as in the [[membrane keyboard]]. In both cases, a keypress is registered when the top layer is forced through a hole to touch the bottom layer. For every key, the [[electrical conductor|conductive]] traces on the bottom layer are normally separated by a non-conductive gap. [[Current (electricity)|Electrical current]] cannot flow between them; the [[switch]] is open. However, when pushed down, conductive material on the underside of the top layer bridges the gap between those traces; the switch is closed, current can flow, and a keypress is registered. All such keyboards are characterized by having each key surrounded (and held in place) by a perforated plate, so there is a space between the keys.

Unlike the membrane keyboard, where the user presses directly onto the top membrane layer, this form of chiclet keyboard places a set of [[molding (process)|moulded]] [[rubber]] keys above this. With some key designs, the user pushes the key, and under sufficient pressure the thin sides of the rubber key suddenly collapse. In other designs — such as that seen in the diagram — the deliberate weak point is where the key joins the rest of the sheet. The effect is similar in both cases. This collapse allows the solid rubber center to move downwards, forcing the top membrane layer against the bottom layer, and completing the circuit. The "sudden collapse" of the chiclet keyboard (along with the movement of the key) provides a greater tactile feedback to the user than a simple flat membrane keyboard.

Most often the tops of the keys were hard, but sometimes they were made of the same material as the rubber dome itself.

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 blue underside permit air to flow out of a dome when a key is pressed, and let air come back in when released.

The [[keyboard technology#Dome-switch keyboard|dome switch keyboards]] used with a large proportion of modern PCs are technically similar to chiclet keyboards. The rubber keys are replaced with rubber domes, and hard [[plastic]] keytops rest on top of these. Because the keytops are wider than the rubber domes, the keytops are not separated but align almost perfectly with only a minimal gap in between each other.

== Legacy ==

The term "chiclet" has also been used to describe low-profile, low-travel [[Keyboard technology#Scissor-switch|scissor keyboard]]s with simplified, flat keycaps separated by a bezel. The first laptop to feature this style of chiclet keyboard was the [[Mitsubishi Pedion]] in 1997 (rebranded as the OmniBook Sojourn by [[Hewlett-Packard]]).<ref>{{cite web | last=Crothers | first=Brooke | date=March 16, 2008 | url=https://www.cnet.com/news/macbook-air-rivals-past-and-present/ | title=MacBook Air rivals, past and present | work=CNET | publisher=Red Ventures | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117173140/https://www.cnet.com/news/macbook-air-rivals-past-and-present/ | archivedate=November 17, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Forbes | first=Jim | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGpVAAAAMAAJ | title=Pedion Proves Thin Is In | journal=Windows Magazine | year=1998 | volume=9 | issue=3 | page=128 | publisher=CMP Media | via=Google Books | access-date=2021-11-17 | archive-date=2023-03-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309181227/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Windows_Magazine/IGpVAAAAMAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Sony]] popularized the chiclet keyboard in laptops with the release of the [[Vaio]] X505 in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://boingboing.net/2011/11/14/what-the-vaio-z-says-about-son.html|title=What the Vaio Z says about Sony's little design problem|date=November 15, 2011|access-date=May 31, 2020|archive-date=June 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621080540/https://boingboing.net/2011/11/14/what-the-vaio-z-says-about-son.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Notable uses ==

All of the computers listed are from the early [[home computer]] era, except the OLPC XO-1.

{{div col}}
* [[Atari Portfolio]] (its keys resemble those of an HP pocket calculator)
* [[Cambridge Z88]] (arguably a mix between a membrane and chiclet keyboard)
* [[Commodore PET|Commodore PET 2001]] (the original 1977 PET) has the square keys of a calculator or cash register.
* [[Commodore 116]] (version of the C16 sold only in Europe)
* [[Enterprise 64]] (has a rubber keyboard, on top of which plastic keycaps were glued)
* [[IBM PCjr]]<ref>[http://www.digibarn.com/collections/devices/pcjr-chicklet-keyboard/index.html "Chicklet Keyboard frm IBM PC Jr"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230173830/http://www.digibarn.com/collections/devices/pcjr-chicklet-keyboard/index.html |date=2010-12-30 }}. DigiBarn Computer Museum.</ref>
* [[Jupiter ACE]] (Sinclair spectrum style black rubber keys)
* [[Mattel Aquarius]] (blue rubber keys)
* [[TK 90X|Microdigital TK 90X]] (Brazil ZX Spectrum derivation)
* [[Acer (company)|Multitech]] [[Microprofessor I|Microprofessor I (MPF 1)]] and [[Microprofessor II|MPF II]] (the latter an early Apple II compatible)
* [[OLPC XO-1]] (green rubber keys molded from a single sheet of rubber)
* [[Oric-1]] (hard key tops glued on a rubber sheet, somewhat resembling the PCjr)
* [[Panasonic JR-200]]
* [[Spectravideo]] [[SV-318]]
* [[TRS-80 Color Computer|TRS-80 Color Computer I]] (later 'CoCo's have full-travel keyboards)
* [[TRS-80 MC-10]] and its [[France|French]] counterpart, the [[Matra Alice]]
* TI-99/4 (predecessor of the [[TI-99/4A]], which has a full-travel keyboard)
* [[Thomson MO5]] (French microcomputer based on the 6809 microprocessor)
* [[Timex Sinclair 1500]] (U.S. ZX81 derivation)
* [[Timex Sinclair 2068]] (U.S. ZX Spectrum derivation)
* [[VTech Laser 200]] (also known as the Video Technology VZ200)
* [[ZX Spectrum]] 16/48K (later models have slightly improved keyboards)
* Some early models of [[MSX]] computers, for example the [[Philips]] VG-8010<ref>[http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=300 "Philips VG 8000 / 8010"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619225105/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=300 |date=2019-06-19 }}. ''oldcomputers.com'' History of Home and Game Computers. Erik Klooster.</ref>
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== References ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Home computers]]
[[Category:Computer keyboards]]
[[Category:Computer keyboard types]]