Hi Sean,
Thanks for the kind words.
I am happy these tools raise excitement. The funny thing is
that it is hard to convey the interestingness of GT in static
pictures. Most often excitement comes from looks. Yet, take
yours for example: there is absolutely nothing exciting about
a couple of lists. But, when you start to use contextual
details during inspection and extend the tools exactly at the
point when the need occurs, the game changes radically.
Everyone spends these long hours digging through systems.
Yet, most people don't like this at all (if you do not believe
me, when was the last time you heard someone bragging about
the last debugging session?). I think the reason is that until
now, the experience was terrible. Digging through systems has
to become a beautiful experience. We owe this to our future
self and to the next generations.
The current GT is a step (ok, maybe two :)) forward, but
there is lots to do in this direction. And I think this is one
area in which Pharo can thrive and be radically different.
Cheers,
Doru