I grew up using a Borland C++ compiler that didn't list which line numbers were missing semi-colons. I didn't mind going over my code to find the missing semi-colon, but plenty of my classmates were frustrated. They weren't interested in how compilers worked, how code was parsed and debugging information was lost in the transition. They just wanted to build a game, a web site, something.
At college I had a difficult time with Scheme and looked down at it. Where's the manual memory management? The pointers? The for loops? Scheme abstracted away a lot of plumbing and let users focus on algorithms.
Nowadays I think Python is the ideal first language followed by C and Haskell. It's starting in the middle, and then moving towards opposite ends of the programming spectrum: systems and functional programming.
Some make the argument that CS students should be dedicated enough to plow through an introductory course taught in Java / C++. I think that's an elitist attitude. CS is not growing in popularity despite increased demand[0], and new students should be welcomed instead of facing artificial filtering measures like "dedication". At the same time, this is not a proposal to water down the major--just a plea to ease students in instead of kicking them off a cliff and hoping they can fly.
Edit: Another front page article (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7760790) discusses this issue:
> One might also argue that these tools are simple enough once you learn to use them. I would only point out that, emperically, that bar is too high. Despite the clear benefits, the vast majority of the world was chosen to remain illiterate. Even tools for which there is a clear need (eg version control) have largely failed to make a dent. Clearly there is a need for a less hostile programming environment.
[0] http://www.itworld.com/big-data/418701/american-college-stud...