Silicon Valley dreamers I have long imagined a world where each child holds a laptop. It sounds good on paper, but has proven stubbornly difficult to manifest in reality. Not only do you need a computer cheap enough to sell it to schools for little money, but you also need software to appeal to a notoriously distracted audience – kids.
The educational market is riddled with smart toys, robots, apps, and other tactics for kids to participate in STEAM-related activities. Few have had the success of Kano, makers of Raspberry Pi-based computers that kids can build. Now, thanks in part to a new partnership with Microsoft, Kano is launching the Kano PC, an affordable, powerful, and repairable Windows laptop aimed at the educational market. It does all of this while retaining the colorful, kid-friendly charm that requires a bit of assembly from its predecessors.
Kano CEO Alex Klein tells WIRED that stepping away from Raspberry Pi computers was practical. “Schools have already invested heavily in Windows,” says Klein. “Children want to play Fortnite. Teachers need Microsoft Office. “
Then there is the speed problem. Raspberry Pi computers are cheap and adaptable, but it’s rarely the most powerful processor in the room. Often times, the websites and online tools that children and their teachers need require large amounts of JavaScript which makes them slowly load onto less powerful chips like the one on the Raspberry Pi. The difference between charging times on older Kano machines and the new Kano PC is “like night and day,” says Klein.
It also doesn’t hurt companies to have Microsoft as a equity partner, which is part of the new deal with Kano. Microsoft, which has recently struggled with iPads and Chromebooks in the education market, is getting a new way to put Windows in schools.
Rather than turn his back on the Maker movement from which he emerged, Klein sees the PC Kano as “a fusion of the Maker movement ethic, with the reach and power of Microsoft.” When Kano launched in 2013, we called it a “slime-worthy kit that allows kids to build their own computers.” It featured a keyboard, wiring, and a Raspberry Pi board, which the kids could put together themselves. The first release even lacked a screen.
The next version added a screen and strengthened the software tools to learn how to code. Then came three separate kits, a DIY camera, a speaker, and a pixel light board, all built around Kano’s central premise: that touch and hands-on experiences should be the cornerstone of STEAM education.
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