Korman:
...
If you want to bring people to the Arduino, look for people with occupations who could use them, show them how it can work for their hobby. That will get them hooked. And once you have them with the Arduino, they can then be goaded in the direction of programming or electronics. Don't start them directly on programming or electronics, those are rather forbidding domains where so many things can go wrong and simple looking problems become very complicated and frustrating fast.
Korman
Thanks, Korman... Very good point. I guess I was assuming that many people came to Arduino because "They got interested". But HOW?? Hmmm...
I think that often young people get interested in something by watching an adult or someone else doing it and enjoying it or "doing something cool"..
But you're right that Arduino is not an end to itself, and should be promoted more as an enabler and a tool.