It's a shame that Notch dropped the 0x10c project. The concept seemed to me like a great way to get kids more interested in actual computer engineering (as opposed to just using computer applications).
[0]: http://www.zachtronics.com/tis-100/ [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Barth
My one gripe with it however is that it takes the middle ground between teaching assembly to people unfamiliar with programming and those who already have some knowledge, and doesn't quite satisfy either.