I should be getting famous as the Squeak pimp. VM and images run on the device but in general not tuned for embedded pen-based (mainly) environment. Still, usable if you do your dev'ing on a PC. Alas your final sentence may be the problem. Not so much a steep learning curve (syntax fits on one side of A4) as shift in thinking/approach. If you do check it out then look carefully at the EToy way of doing things (ignore the "toy" bit if you can).