I only partly agree with the author, but I think that using something like Racket[1] in the first CS course is the good balance between the two extremes.
For the "fun CS" part: Scheme really doesn't get in students way (no syntax to learn besides "balance the parenthesis) and since Racket come with "batteries-included" as they say, you can start drawing things and making little apps (web or desktop) very quickly. I'll also add that the documentation is examplary, which is really something important in this case.
For the "real CS" (lacking of a better word) part: first, there are really good introductory book which use Scheme like SICP, The {Little,Seasoned} Schemer and HtDP (which is written by the Racket team). Second, the Racket platform support many languages like C[2] and even ALGOL 60[3] which is very close to the kind of pseudo-code you'll find in algorithm books like the famous introduction to algorithm.
For everything that isn't directly programming-related, well, it doesn't change anything. Execpt maybe for the basics of lambda-calculus which students would grasp easier if they have used lambda expression before, so Scheme is still a win here.
For the "fun CS" part: Scheme really doesn't get in students way (no syntax to learn besides "balance the parenthesis) and since Racket come with "batteries-included" as they say, you can start drawing things and making little apps (web or desktop) very quickly. I'll also add that the documentation is examplary, which is really something important in this case.
For the "real CS" (lacking of a better word) part: first, there are really good introductory book which use Scheme like SICP, The {Little,Seasoned} Schemer and HtDP (which is written by the Racket team). Second, the Racket platform support many languages like C[2] and even ALGOL 60[3] which is very close to the kind of pseudo-code you'll find in algorithm books like the famous introduction to algorithm.
For everything that isn't directly programming-related, well, it doesn't change anything. Execpt maybe for the basics of lambda-calculus which students would grasp easier if they have used lambda expression before, so Scheme is still a win here.
[1] http://racket-lang.org/
[2] http://planet.racket-lang.org/display.ss?package=c.plt&o...
[3] http://docs.racket-lang.org/algol60/index.html