While high-level abstractions like .NET and Java are splendid modern tools, nothing teaches you the fundamentals of how a computer thinks and works like a line-by-line BASIC program. Two reasons off-hand: a) The leap to assembly language is natural and easily understood. b) The leap in the reverse direction, to functional languages, is mostly a simple matter of wrapping blocks in headers and return statements. If you start in a language with these two attributes, you're already 1 - 2 years into a collegiate computer science degree.

This platform is a thing of beauty--a lot easier to list what it CAN'T be used for that what it can. If it was my toy, I'd start with orbital assembly. Yes, they're probably going to utilize it as an incredibly dynamic observation vehicle and stuff it full of sensors, but the fact that it's now a proven technology (and was up for seven months, with multiple controlled orbit changes!) is a big milestone. We don't see very many leaps forward in space technology now adays, but this is one of them.