I agree, I prefer sketches. Everyone can do them, it's a low barrier to entry, and it saves learning another bit of software just to get your point across. Meeting in person would also allow you to get a gut reaction on who you're hiring.
Technology wise I think it's great. However, from a clarity point of view and ease of interpretation I think it needs more work as it takes a fair amount of brainpower to try and digest. It's no easy task though picturing the evolution of the web so hats off to them!
I realize it's a different language, but how about Ruby-Processing? It's a wrapper of Processing's methods but in Ruby. Here's the link https://github.com/jashkenas/ruby-processing. It's much less verbose than Java and also has a very handy watch mode which reloads your sketch every time you make a change.
I think it's a great idea. They're making electronics fun and interesting which will hopefully attract people that would otherwise run a mile! Good luck guys!
Agree. I'm on OSX. I've used many different Linux distros but they don't have that 'just working' touch yet. I must admit, Ubuntu is pretty damn good though. It sucks trying to make stuff work that just should on Linux. I'm sure that one day though things will change.
It also needs better cohesion between design and code...