> and the lack of a working implementation
This is great news, I don't actually have to download and play with this one :)
Not even a specification.
By the way, I know a few of the names there and I know how completely different their computing tastes and personalities are. I would love to see the archives for the discussion mailing-list for this one, will be very entertaining .. and informative :-)
"Give the last 20 years experience with C, Java, and other “real” languages, perhaps it is time to reconsider, and instead create a language designed for novices."
Such language exists, and it's called Oz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_(programming_language)
It's the most mind-expanding, most diverse in the paradigms it supports, and certainly one of the most interesting languages out there. And it's a tiny kernel language the size of Scheme that one can learn piece-meal. You can use it like Pascal, or Scheme, or Prolog, or Self, or Java, or Erlang ..
Mozart/Oz can teach newbies, no doubt. But it can't be taught by anyone. It requires an open mind and someone who is a competent programmer, not just an assignment pusher. I don't think most profs and TAs will be able to teach it as well as they should, but students can learn it on their own.
http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/~pvr/paradigms.html
Click on the PDF poster there and see how broad the language is.