If You Build It, They Will Learn

Sometimes the question is: what’s a practical use for this seemingly impractical product? Other times, the question is: what’s a unique potentially seasonal twist to put on this product that can be used year round? Other times still, it’s: what’s a quirky way to “misunderstand” this product for maximum humor?

But then, on certain rare occasions, it’s something far simpler:

Wait, hold on, what is this thing even?

And that’s where I find myself with today’s product, the Kano Computer Kit. I remember going to a “computer fair” with my dad when I was young; I was getting old enough so that I needed a computer for school (and, let’s be totally honest, to play Unreal). We went to a stand where a guy–just a normal looking human being–BUILT WHOLE COMPUTERS! It blew my mind. So is that what this Kano is?

No.

It’s not a computer for kids. It’s a computer for kids… to build. A teaching toy, if you will.

Brian, over at GoGoDadget gives us this helpful tl;dr:

Kano Computing has created a build-your-own computer kit that’s incredibly fun, empowering, and important for all ages. It’s priced right and worth every penny. (Brian later says he paid $150 for the kit.)

Along with a little walkthrough of actually building the thing with his 5-year-old daughter. “We went step by step, ran into zero issues, and after connecting the computer to our monitor, it came to life and blew her little mind. I usually have a section for downsides, and before writing this review I couldn’t really find any with what we had gotten done.”

Stuart Dredge thinks it’s about more than learning to code. Writing a comical review for the Guardian, he maintains that it need not turn your kid into a coding prodigy to be of some use. In fact, it’s not just for kids. While constructing (and nearly destroying) the Kano with his own children, he reaches an early epiphany:

Actually, though, the device may be less important than the human relationships around it. Setting aside a couple of hours on a Saturday to make and use a computer was about time with my sons, just like a good walk, football in the park, bundling onto the sofa for a story and so on.

This is backed up by Dredge’s conversation with Yonatan Raz-Fridman, the Kano’s cofounder. Talking about the product’s greater purpose, he says:

“Even those who don’t [grow up to be programmers] will know how to be creative with technology: how to make and play with it, in a way that can serve them in different purposes. But the fun, empowering, playful part is what comes across strongly: it’s not about coming and saying ‘today you will learn to code’.”

In that way, the Kano is a great toy for right now. And I don’t just mean that in the broad way, as in the age of technology. I mean, right now. Like, the winter of 2018-2019. Your kids have likely been home from school for a little bit. They’ve gotten some cool new toys. It’s the perfect time to surprise them with another one, one that’s productive: a toy you can use to bridge the gap from the international waters of holiday time–where sweets and play time abound–to the more rote and structured society of school.

And if they go on to make some billion-dollar world-saving app at the age 15… I mean, that’s not too bad either, right?