The Kano computer kit was successfully funded on Kickstarter in December 2013 – and when I say “successfully”, I mean it got more than 15X its $100,000 funding goal. Kano will be shipping in July, and the company is now taking pre-orders for those of us who didn’t get in on the Kickstarter campaign. The kit contains everything you need to assemble a computer (powered by Raspberry Pi) and speaker that you can hook up to a TV or monitor. The Kano OS is based on Debian Linux and has “an interface that feels a bit like a console game.” It comes with toolkits that let’s you build your own games. “It runs six Kano Levels, software projects to make Pong, Snake, Minecraft, videos, and music – with (inshallah) more to come. We’re also loaded with Scratch, Codecademy, and “Hacking Fundamentals,” an introduction to the world of the Linux shell, where you can join the free software movement worldwide.” There’s much more to learn about the Kano than will fit here; read more at the Kano website and at the Kickstarter page, where information is still accessible. You can pre-order a Kano kit at their website for $129.00.
