Kano is a company that sells DIY computing kits for kids. They’re meant to help the little ones learn to assemble and use computers and also learn to code. Till now the company had its setups built around Raspberry Pi single board PCs and GNU/Linux software. Things are getting serious with the new Kano PC, which is a more powerful 11.6 inch Windows tablet with a detachable keyboard.
The device will be available worldwide starting with October 21st and it’s up for preorder from today, at $300. The idea is for the little ones to assemble the device from scratch. The Kano PC specs aren’t high end or nothing close to it, but the challenge is there. There’s an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor inside, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of eMMC storage.
The way the device is assembled reminds me of LEGO, with the battery, speaker and other components attached to the main unit. From what I can see the case is see through and lets you see all the main parts. The PCB remains visible and there are LEDs that light up to make the device look cooler and also show which hardware is active. The tablet comes with educational software like Make Art, which lets you make images using Coffeescript.
There’s also a Kano Projects app and a Minecraft: Education Edition. I feel like this could end up being a big deal in third world countries.
