7 ms·

Kano: A computer and coding kit for ages 6-12

37 points by Pamar 11y ago

ausjke 11y ago
That looks neat, a bit pricey though. snap circuits focuses more on the assembly side which is also good : http://www.snapcircuits.net/ http://www.snapcircuits.net/
- runamok 11y ago
  I think it's a pretty fair price especially with the holiday pricing... Just the pi alone sans case, card, cables, power supply, wifi, keyboard w/ touchpad, speaker, etc. is $35 US. http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi2?ICID=rpimain-feature-products http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/ra... Clearly you could put something together yourself for cheaper but then you would not have the cool book to teach the child to do it themselves and refer to.
- runamok 11y ago
  Also here is a review and more background I am using to make an informed decision as to whether I want to buy this for my nephews... http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/27/kano-ships/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/27/kano-ships/
- dogma1138 11y ago
  100$ for a RasPi, case, wifi dongle, mmc, cables and keyboard isn't that high, you won't find much cheaper kits even if you are counting in the chinese knockoff's (which aren't necessarily bad, some of the chinese SBC's are one of the better ones as far as performance go on the market especially when PPP goes). The only thing that you can fault them atm is not having enough kit extensions like various IOT and PLC devices or kits that use the GPIO on the Pi but those can come in the future and they much more software design oriented than builder oriented. What is sad tho is that Lego had this and much more like 10 years ago but never got anywhere close to the level of coverage this gets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms They also had a line for schools I remember actually having electromechanical legos to play with in primary school in the mid 90's and it seems they developed them more and more http://ceeo.tufts.edu/documents/journal/1999bemccr.pdf http://ceeo.tufts.edu/documents/journal/1999bemccr.pdf
sreyaNotfilc 11y ago
I've actually convinced my 13 year old niece and 11 year old nephew to learn to code. I know there are a lot of financial benefits to doing so, but I'm trying my best to have them focus on just making things that solves some of their problems. I have much younger nieces, perhaps this can be a little Xmas gift for them.
ajb 11y ago
I work for Kano - anyone got any questions?
- keithpeter 11y ago
  Any plans to release the applications separately? Guessing this is Linux/Android base?
  - ajb 11y ago
    We have one app that you can also use on the web: http://art.kano.me http://art.kano.me The other apps are all open source (https://github.com/KanoComputing https://github.com/KanoComputing). I don't think we currently have plans to release them separately, but we are a startup so things can change quickly! Kano OS is based on Rasbian, from the Raspberry pi foundation, which is in turn based on Debian Linux.
    - keithpeter 11y ago
      move 100, 50 moves to right and down Best of luck!
      - alecmolloy 11y ago
        Hi! I work on Make Art. This is based on a coordinate system with the origin at the top-left, which is very common in graphics. (Canvas uses this implementation, as do many others. But for instance many shader languages like GLSL do use a bottom-left origin.)
        keithpeter 11y ago
        We like your work. Well done. I'll put a class of teenagers who study fine art on it next week for a break from their Maths class. I'm in the UK, and all 16+ year old students who failed their school maths exam (called a GCSE, standard for all students in England) are now required to retake it when they go onto college. That isn't astoundingly popular with the students so we are always on the lookout for visually attractive and engaging stuff to try. I have 12 PCs in a flexible learning area.... ...its just that the coordinate system you are using has a vertical axis that is flipped compared with the usual Maths convention. I know that one goes back to BASIC days but it still means a minor discontinuity with Maths. I do warn students that conventions (e.g. BODMAS vs RPN) are just conventions, there is no intrinsic reason why they are that way, so we'll just go with it.
zenlot 11y ago
189.99 GBP for a kit+screen version, seriously? A child will be better suited with a new laptop for the same price (it can be coloured if you wish) and install the software needed for art, creativity, programming or anything else interested in. PS: "Award-winning design, based on 10,000 hours with educators, artists, and kids." -> Who awarded for this design? I am really concerned if that's all you could deliver after spending 10,000 hours.

37 points by Pamar 11y ago

That looks neat, a bit pricey though. snap circuits focuses more on the assembly side which is also good : http://www.snapcircuits.net/ http://www.snapcircuits.net/

runamok 11y ago
I think it's a pretty fair price especially with the holiday pricing... Just the pi alone sans case, card, cables, power supply, wifi, keyboard w/ touchpad, speaker, etc. is $35 US. http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi2?ICID=rpimain-feature-products http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/ra... Clearly you could put something together yourself for cheaper but then you would not have the cool book to teach the child to do it themselves and refer to.
runamok 11y ago
Also here is a review and more background I am using to make an informed decision as to whether I want to buy this for my nephews... http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/27/kano-ships/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/27/kano-ships/
dogma1138 11y ago
100$ for a RasPi, case, wifi dongle, mmc, cables and keyboard isn't that high, you won't find much cheaper kits even if you are counting in the chinese knockoff's (which aren't necessarily bad, some of the chinese SBC's are one of the better ones as far as performance go on the market especially when PPP goes). The only thing that you can fault them atm is not having enough kit extensions like various IOT and PLC devices or kits that use the GPIO on the Pi but those can come in the future and they much more software design oriented than builder oriented. What is sad tho is that Lego had this and much more like 10 years ago but never got anywhere close to the level of coverage this gets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms They also had a line for schools I remember actually having electromechanical legos to play with in primary school in the mid 90's and it seems they developed them more and more http://ceeo.tufts.edu/documents/journal/1999bemccr.pdf http://ceeo.tufts.edu/documents/journal/1999bemccr.pdf

sreyaNotfilc 11y ago

I've actually convinced my 13 year old niece and 11 year old nephew to learn to code. I know there are a lot of financial benefits to doing so, but I'm trying my best to have them focus on just making things that solves some of their problems. I have much younger nieces, perhaps this can be a little Xmas gift for them.

ajb 11y ago

I work for Kano - anyone got any questions?

keithpeter 11y ago
Any plans to release the applications separately? Guessing this is Linux/Android base?
- ajb 11y ago
  We have one app that you can also use on the web: http://art.kano.me http://art.kano.me The other apps are all open source (https://github.com/KanoComputing https://github.com/KanoComputing). I don't think we currently have plans to release them separately, but we are a startup so things can change quickly! Kano OS is based on Rasbian, from the Raspberry pi foundation, which is in turn based on Debian Linux.
  - keithpeter 11y ago
    move 100, 50 moves to right and down Best of luck!
    - alecmolloy 11y ago
      Hi! I work on Make Art. This is based on a coordinate system with the origin at the top-left, which is very common in graphics. (Canvas uses this implementation, as do many others. But for instance many shader languages like GLSL do use a bottom-left origin.)
      - keithpeter 11y ago
        We like your work. Well done. I'll put a class of teenagers who study fine art on it next week for a break from their Maths class. I'm in the UK, and all 16+ year old students who failed their school maths exam (called a GCSE, standard for all students in England) are now required to retake it when they go onto college. That isn't astoundingly popular with the students so we are always on the lookout for visually attractive and engaging stuff to try. I have 12 PCs in a flexible learning area.... ...its just that the coordinate system you are using has a vertical axis that is flipped compared with the usual Maths convention. I know that one goes back to BASIC days but it still means a minor discontinuity with Maths. I do warn students that conventions (e.g. BODMAS vs RPN) are just conventions, there is no intrinsic reason why they are that way, so we'll just go with it.

zenlot 11y ago

189.99 GBP for a kit+screen version, seriously? A child will be better suited with a new laptop for the same price (it can be coloured if you wish) and install the software needed for art, creativity, programming or anything else interested in. PS: "Award-winning design, based on 10,000 hours with educators, artists, and kids." -> Who awarded for this design? I am really concerned if that's all you could deliver after spending 10,000 hours.