I don't think you read me correctly.

I agree with the facts and premise he presents. A Tessel is a toy. It is not going to teach you C, Assembly, or any of the realities of hardware development.

I disagree with the premise that this is a bad thing. I disagree with the premise that people are buying Tessels with the intent to create production grade products. This is literally a toy for people who want to screw around with hardware. This is not a bad thing.

Would you give people shit for buying some Lego Mindstorms to do the same thing instead of a Tessel?