'Stall speed' is a nursery tool in aviation and serves that purpose.
Wings don't know anything about speed. They only understand AoA.
I wish I could agree with you Shaggy, but I can't do so. It's too simplistic a view.
There's a reason why aircraft are certified based on stall-speed rather than AOA. Stall speed tells you how slow you can get before you reach critical AOA.
Let's put it simply: For a given wing (to simplify it, taking out the constants, making huge assumptions), Lift = speed^2 * AOA. You can keep a critical AOA but you need speed to generate lift or you'll be descending.
Wings DO know speed. They know speed and AOA. They need both. This continued new-fangled over-concentration on AOA is gonna get some kid killed as they keep hearing "Speed doesn't matter, AOA does."
Edit: Shaggy, after your edit, NOW I agree with you. ;-) I still think it's a valuable reference number though.