Having recently gained an incredible $1,000,000 on their Kickstarter, Kano is a work of genius and inspiration. Created by eight people from six different countries, Kano was originally inspired by Micah, a seven-year-old who told his cousin Alex that he would like to build his own computer. He had just two rules: he wanted the product to be as fun and simple as Lego and he didn’t want to be taught how to build it. Alex and his friend Yonatan completed Micah’s request by April 2013, just two months later, creating 200 kits in their apartment. By September the team was complete and eager to take Kano worldwide. They have already supported and sponsored numerous children and projects, encouraging people to use their Kano kits to create and build whatever they like. But they needed a little extra funding. Built using a Raspberry Pi, Kano is open-source and so you can – and are encouraged to – build pretty much anything. Computers, games, music, video, speakers and more have already been built using the kit. They can be used at home for fun and experimenting, in schools, companies and anywhere else where curious minds abound. The team are clearly very grateful for all the support they have received, they even offer multiple rewards for different amounts of pledges. For $9 you will receive early downloads of their books and software before their full release. $19 gets you stickers and a T-Shirt, $49 a Kano Keyboard. For $99 you will receive the Kano kit itself, shipping is free worldwide. You can also pledge $229 and receive one Kano kit and pledge another to anyone you like; a child who can’t afford to purchase one themselves for example. A massive $999 ensures you the Kano Lab; which consists of ten Kano kits and various other goodies. Although they have well exceeded their goal of $100,000 and now have over $1 million, their endeavours don’t end there. At $1.5 million they will be able to create Kano on Mobile, and at $2 million The Kano Robot. You read that correctly: a robot. If you would like to pledge towards this incredible invention, you can donate on their Kickstarter here.
