Clever girl...

It seems Google's insidious plan to provide a scripting environment for your favorite language that is technically implemented and barely documented has had the desired effect. The same effect of eating a single potato chip, then realizing the bag is empty.

I knew I was going to do some development for the droid, but I didn't know that scripting for it would make me more excited about the prospect.

Google, you coy little minx...

Is there a (long-term) goal to permit writing Android apps in these other supported languages, or is it just for quick and dirty experimentation?

This is possible. However, the first priority is to make the existing system stable, more user friendly, and to provide more comprehensive access to the Android APIs.

I'll play your game...