I think a relatively balanced approach is desireable, as in most things. Sure, start the freshman off with Python. Let them get their feet wet and see whether

I think a relatively balanced approach is desireable, as in most things. Sure, start the freshman off with Python. Let them get their feet wet and see whether they even enjoy this dark art at all. Besides, knowing about the hardware before "Hello World" isn't very helpful. After their intro class, you don't do bottom up or top down. You start at both ends and work your way in. You got your computer systems course which teaches C and a smattering of assembly and hardware and your algorithms and data structures class that can use an easier language like (python/scheme) to reduce the cognitive overhead to teach the material. If the students are taking these at the same time and the professors coordinate to explain how they relate at the various levels, you get very balanced developers. (Assuming they do well in the classes!)