I think text editor+canvas+javascript is all anyone really needs now to start making cool "wow look at the sprites move, scroll and scale!" apps that kids thriv

I think text editor+canvas+javascript is all anyone really needs now to start making cool "wow look at the sprites move, scroll and scale!" apps that kids thrive on! (I'm actually having a renaissance of fun/explorative graphical programming on that tip myself). The browser is THE platform as they can email an html file or stick it on their school hosting (no server side stuff required) account or maybe even whack it into a facebook/myspace/xanga account somehow. Also it's free to get an MS xna account and the software required which lets you develop games for the zune, xbox360 and windows. Blatantly not mac/linux friendly but that's not what the article is driving at anyway.