Raspberry Pi provides an inexpensive way for aspiring computer scientists to start hacking, but its bare-bones offering can be intimidating to a newcomer. Kano is a forthcoming open-source computer kit designed to make coding as easy as assembling Legos. A Kickstarter for the project has attracted more than six times its $100,000 goal with 25 days left to go. It is expected to be available next summer for $99, though to preorder one now will cost you $119. (The price includes global shipping.)
Kano kit offers an easier way to make a low-cost Raspberry Pi computer
is the editor of the Platformer newsletter and cohost of the Hard Fork podcast.
Among other projects, Kano can be used to build simple games, like Pong or Snake, or create music, sounds, and HD video. The kit runs a variation of Linux and includes visual coding software called Kano Blocks that outputs Python and Javascript. A Kano keyboard costs $49 more; you’ll need to bring your own monitor. Among the project’s supporters: Eben Upton, founder and CEO of Raspberry Pi, who says Kano is “doing great work making the Pi more accessible to younger and less technical audiences.” Here’s a video showing how Kano is assembled:
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