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Ashton Kutcher takes product engineering job at Lenovo, first tablets look like Apple Wireless Keyboards

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Actor Ashton Kutcher has joined Lenovo as a product engineer. Kutcher’s experience in engineering includes… basically nothing, although he did play Steve Jobs in the 2013 biopic Jobs, so that has to count for something, right? Right?

Kutcher’s first job at Lenovo will be using his celebrity status to market the company’s new “Yoga” tablet—an obvious first step for any aspiring product engineer (or, you know, celebrity endorser). The tablet, which Kutcher presumably had some “engineering” input on, is a flat aluminum enclosure with a rounded base that houses the power button. The Yoga is an attempt at an original body design, and it certainly wins points in that category as long as you only compare it to other tablets. When compared to other electronics, however, the originality quickly fades. The thing basically looks like an upside-down Apple Wireless Keyboard.

Clearly Kutcher’s time as Steve Jobs informed his sense of product design and influenced the hard work he did “engineering” the Yoga.  We look forward to seeing what other innovative and original ideas Kutcher “engineers” during his time at Lenovo.

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Comments

  1. JoeL Thomas (@J18Way) - 10 years ago

    SERIOUSLY?!?! That’s a joke right. . . . It doesn’t even look nice and imagine the ergonomic’s of holding it/placing it on the table, you’d always have to orient the screen upside down to use it on top of a table.

  2. Abrar Wazir - 10 years ago

    His major in college was engineering…

  3. pbranham - 10 years ago

    Well, “basically nothing” is *close*, but not entirely accurate for his engineering experience. He was studying biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa before he dropped out to pursue modeling and later acting. So it’s at least not completely out of the blue. I’m not saying he has any real industry experience with engineering, but he at least has some background there. He’s also a pretty tech-savvy guy if you listen to some of his more recent interviews. He’s a far cry from the character he played in “That 70’s Show”.

  4. totencough - 10 years ago

    Actually, Kutcher studied engineering before taking on modeling, then acting full time. He’s still actively in the tech game with funding and consulting.

    I was surprised, but the guy actually knows what he’s talking about with tech. Don’t hate, take a bit of time to listen to him before you assume he’s just the dumb guy from “Dude, Where’s My Car.”

    Watch this interview he did with The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/25/4555946/ashton-kutcher-on-portraying-jobs-it-terrified-me

  5. thejuanald - 10 years ago

    This article reeks of jealousy and snark for no reason other than anger that the actor who played your messiah is no supporting something else. Also, you really need an editor. I knew gaming “journalists” were a bunch of bullshit and Reuters refused to accredit them because they are just shills, but how do you even call yourself a journalist? There should be legal consequences for people on a corporation’s payroll spouting this shit. Where’s your journalism degree from, Mr. Beasley?

    • 311sie - 10 years ago

      need a hug?

    • Mike Beasley - 10 years ago

      I have a bachelor’s degree in communications (which includes television and radio news) from a four-year university in South Carolina. The only payroll I’m on is right here at 9to5Mac and Steve Jobs was no messiah.

      Also, I am an editor, and I am not responsible for your allergic reaction to humor.

      • totencough - 10 years ago

        Testy, testy.

  6. Amir Ghazaeri - 10 years ago

    We just got punk’d!

  7. Niels Bosch - 10 years ago

    and that is how you go from favorite to least favorite actor in less then a minute…. wtf Kutcher?

  8. Zamil Mattar - 10 years ago

    A little too late for April fools.

  9. This design is very similar to adam by Notion Ink. adam was first tablet pc concept by IIT students (indian Institute of Technology) long before ipads. It was launched even and I guess it still is manufactured.

  10. This is quite a surprise. And who is the Lenovo logo on the wrong side of the display?

  11. Zero Bit (@Zero_Bit) - 10 years ago

    Apple Trackpad-> Why is the tablet compared to the Apple Keyboard (that only has the battery slot in common), if there is a Apple Wireless Trackpad that obviously really looks the same as the Tablet.. Dear Mike, a keyboard is quite long and got lots of buttons on top you know…

  12. theaccordance - 10 years ago

    I get that we didn’t like his movie, but the level of sarcasm in this article is what turns me off from reading other news sites. Common 9to5mac, you can do better.

  13. Paul Threatt - 10 years ago

    This isn’t a bad move by Lenovo, even though Ashton’s early engineering ambitions are about as useful as his culinary engineering experience. Lenovo will likely have very low expectations for his engineering contribution with “that’s awesome” and “it needs more shine” accepted as contributions. He will excel as the front man in a future Ive-style presentation video where his access to decision makers and contributions to the design will sound genuine.

  14. Michael Wright - 10 years ago

    Dude,

    Where’s my degree?

  15. Robert Rooney - 10 years ago

    It looks like someone glued an LCD screen onto an Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard upside down… Nice innovation there.

    • Jon Lane (@lane32x) - 10 years ago

      This looks exactly like Notion Ink’s Adam tablet. In the photo, where the hand is, it even looks like it has the swivel part that Notion Ink uses for a 180 degree camera. And it’s not a bad design, it’s just not an original design.

  16. Argh!

    With hundreds of talented product engineers out there doing miracles in their teams that could potentially go for the job… Lenovo hires Kutcher???

    At least it’s good to know how decisions are being made at Lenovo… so that we can AVOID them :)

  17. Jon Lane (@lane32x) - 10 years ago

    This looks suspiciously like the Notion Ink Adam tablet….
    http://www.slatedroid.com/uploads/cf75756b628b1a892d208aed0f6c8e97.jpg

  18. highprrrr - 10 years ago

    I wonder, could this editorial be any more biased?

    I guess to be fair it IS 9to5mac.com. Have to expect some biasness.