Kano (computer)

Overview

The founders of Kano are writer and designer Alex Klein, venture capitalist Saul Klein, and Israeli entrepreneur Yonatan Raz-Fridman. Alex and Saul are cousins.

In November 2012, "Alex, Yonatan, and Saul were trying to imagine what a computer for the next generation would look like". They "wanted to know if it was possible to make a computer kit that would be fun enough to hold kids' attention, but smart enough to actually teach them something". They drew inspiration from Saul's then 6-year-old son Micah, who advised that he wanted the kit to be "as simple and fun as Legos".

The founders chose Kanō Jigorō, the creator of judo, as the eponym of the company because of his renown as a dedicated teacher and democratizer of martial arts.

Development

In January 2013, Yonatan Raz-Fridman and Alex Klein started work on the first Kano prototype, combining off-the-shelf components with graphic stories "with the goal of making the Raspberry Pi more accessible". The founders collaborated with Raspberry Pi and Codecademy, running ideation workshops with "parents, educators, and children around the world". They introduced the kits to schools in low-income areas of London, where the students responded enthusiastically.

In the development phase, "Kano made 200 kits and sold them out based on word of mouth in London schools and at some big companies... The company spent its resources making the design better, creating its own Raspberry Pi operating system, hardware add-ons, and... a plug-and-play design."

Kano also traveled to Africa for testing in South Africa, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, Kano collaborated with the self-taught teenage engineer Kelvin Doe.

Technical specifications

The Kano kit "includes everything required to build a computer short of a screen, including a Raspberry Pi, a case, wireless keyboard with trackpad, cables, Wi-Fi dongle, and even a speaker". The simple instructional guide shows the user how to build the computer by connecting parts together in a manner "a bit like lego".

For the kit's coding component, Kano's team developed Kano OS, a distribution of Debian GNU/Linux, as well as Kano Blocks, an open-source visual programming language that can output code in Javascript and Python among other languages. On Kano OS, users can perform activities like making music, streaming HD video, reprogramming games like Pong and Minecraft, composing music, word processing and web browsing.

According to Metro New York, "the machine can serve many functions of a regular laptop – web browsing, correspondence – but the main appeal lies in teaching non-experts how computers work 'under the hood'".

Kano partnered with the London creative consultancy MAP "to work on the industrial design and make the kit more intuitive and cohesive".

Kickstarter campaign

On 19 November 2013, Kano launched a month-long Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the mass manufacture of the computer for the summer of 2014, primarily through $99 pre-orders of the device. Within 18 hours, Kano had reached its goal of raising $100,000.

At the conclusion of the campaign on 19 December, Kano had raised over $1.5 million from 13,387 backers, making it Kickstarter's most crowdfunded learning invention ever and third most-funded design project. Backers of the Kano Kickstarter came from over 80 countries, and included Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler, who both preordered the kit.

Reception

Wired magazine said that Kano "merges basic computer science concepts with gorgeous, functional design, turning just about anyone into a computer maker". Business Insider called Kano "a computer that's as easy to build as Lego".

Writing in The Guardian, Samuel Gibbs commented: "The Raspberry Pi is a fantastic little machine, but not that simple to get up and running if the user has never built a PC or used Linux before. Kano is trying to change that for adults and children alike."

Rohan Silva, a former British government adviser for technology described Kano as a major breakthrough: "It's the best computer designed with the majority of the world in mind. Past 'maker' innovations have focused on the West, but for the first time this makes tools available wherever you are born. It's a revolutionary moment for computing."