> C has too many pitfalls that a beginner can either be discouraged by a non-working program, or not understanding the subtle gotchas.

Totally agree with you - personally C would have been a very difficult first language for me. Java and Ruby were tough enough at the outset when I started down the programming path. Now I work primarily in C and have been doing so for the last four years or so. Still get hung up on subtle gotchas, especially when interfacing with hardware!