Kano Computer Kit – A Computer Anyone Can Make

I got this for my seven year old's birthday. The kit was easy to put together and the booklet explains what the elements do. We hooked it up to an old HDMI TV, everything worked right away and looked great. Pretty soon he was learning the text commands with me nagging him to make notes as he goes - remember user name, password, commands etc. I really like that it starts by teaching text commands and builds on that. Just like the 'proper' computers we used back in that day.Then, we agreed to a firmware upgrade which took longer than expected ... almost done .... blackness. Oh no we lost power right at the critical moment. On power-up the Kano valiantly tried to recover but no luck, we had bricked it. I have to emphasize this is ENTIRELY MY FAULT since I had used a power outlet I knew was unreliable. Lesson 1, dad is an idiot.Kano gives great instructions on how to fix this, which involves downloading OS from internet and installing this in thememory card. This does need some extra hardware and technical chops, but easily done. Perhaps less so if you are not a geek, just find one. So Lesson 2, fault finding, leveraging resources and the joy of bringing your computer back from silicon heaven.Lesson 3, how to replace a faulty electrical socket without killing yourself or annoying your wife excessively.So from disaster comes the opportunity to pass along several important life skills. Pretty soon we were back to coding in scratch and reading the instructions only as far as absolutely necessary. Currently our cat is flying upside down which is hilarious but not what we had in mind.In case you hadn't guessed, my point is the best way to learn is to have problems to overcome. The great thing about this little kit is that is isn't a magic black box - it's a computer you can modify, break and repair. That's the only way to really understand what is going on. Toys are made to be broken.

This made an excellent Christmas present. My eleven year old and I had it put together and connected in less than 30 minutes. Configuration of the software and network settings was simple and intuitive. I suggest running a software update as soon as you have it connected, which took approximately an hour. My son is having a ball playing with Scratch and Minecraft with this, but it's more than a toy. The inclusion of office software and other tools makes this a fully functional computer with a lot of uses.

He LOVED IT (even though it IS just plugging an led into a chip). It asked his name. Cam'ron. "Hello Camron, I am your computer. X's & O's" THEN EVERYTHING WENT DARK. Nothing.I wrote the "support team" from the flyer in the box that says "STOP! DO NOT RETURN THIS TO STORE. CONTACT US" - I heard no response to the email, help center, or facebook messenger (only one response on a Facebook post where I was asked for a customer care number so they could look it up (i asked how I get a customer care number - or customer CARE in general, and have not heard back). It's almost funny how BAD the customer service was.Yeah, I'm mad at the company & the first unit sent.BUT Amazon replaced it despite the company saying to return directly to them. When the other one arrived, it functioned properly. It kept my 10 yr old's attention for a few hours. It DOES teach old-school programming. It IS slightly customizable. And it IS fun/friendly like a Tomogotchi or Furbi... but that's about it. After a few hours, it is repetitive... but my son is more of a Gamer than a Developer. That being said, if your kid IS really into code, you'll have better luck with an old computer from Goodwill & YouTube Tutorials.

Santa brought this to our curious 8-year old son. He loved putting it together on his own and was connected to our TV in no time at all. He has become a “codingmaster” in just a few days. And there continues to be much more to learn. He says “it is so interesting to see on the screen that you can put together this amazing computer on your own.” Most interesting to us as parents is that the software leads him to learn rather than telling him what to do. Hands down - best Christmas present of the year (besides the whoopie cushion).