The web stack is only messy once you get beyond the basics and want to make it cross browser. As a teaching tool it doesn't need to have a modern design, look the same to everyone and work in IE6.
I had similar thoughts to jbattle. Giving kids the ability to do something, put it online, and make it instantly accesible to their friends and the world is huge. It also helps open their mind to how accesible their creations can be.
That said, Robomind does look pretty cool. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it when I was a kid.
You and jbattle do have a point that web stack is more accessible and easier to share the results. After playing with Robomind (a Java GUI app) last night, I did wish it were a web app.
I had similar thoughts to jbattle. Giving kids the ability to do something, put it online, and make it instantly accesible to their friends and the world is huge. It also helps open their mind to how accesible their creations can be.
That said, Robomind does look pretty cool. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it when I was a kid.