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Good idea. Let's lobby for mandatory computer licenses, with proper training and a test. People won't be allowed to use a computer unless they have a license.

This plan is sure to succeed.

But maybe the parents needs to take a "Internet driver license" test

There is something simular, but the "[International|European] Computer Driver License" (ECDL) is more thought of a certification to prove or learn basic computer-usage targeted for an (non-it) professional public.

looks like things are already going in that direction - European Computer Driving Licence

You think the itunes interface sucks? Most people disagree. I think the WMP interface sucks - and most iTunes users agree.

I guess this is a matter of personal preference. To me, iTunes seems bloated, whereas WMP (with a nice skin) is perfect for what I need; especially the integration with the Taskbar.

Office is a fucking nightmare. You can't just start typing in Word - oh, no.

Sure you're thinking of MS Word? When I open MS Word, the splash screen appears and then the actual application window appears on screen, with the cursor at the top left of the page. If I spend 5-10 minutes at some stage configuring settings, I can even make it default to my own personal settings.

If you find this difficult, you might want to consider taking the ICDL (International Computer Driving License) course - it's specifically designed for people like yourself who have problems carrying out basic tasks with a computer.

How about the European Computer Driving Licence? It's what my university uses for its basic IT skills course.

Someone needs to get the European Computer Driving Licence Foundation (ECDL-F) to embrace Open Office! Then you shall see the difference. ECDL are the standard exams that one needs to be cometent on in order to show computing skills. Currently the market is asking for ECDL but there are still businesses that don't knwo about it. But all these are changing cause European

Not really. It's probably the Spanish version of the ECDL - like a driving license, it's a certificate showing that the bearer has passed exams regarding basic computer knowledge and skills.

( We seem to be getting somewhere, in Norway at least "Datakortet" - the "Computer Card" - can be obtained using Linux :-) )

well at least you could use the demo...
on an 800*600 laptop screen no possibility of using any of the buttons.
Really The site appears to be designed by a half wit.

Can anyone take this site seriously with such poor design of the site?

http://www.ecdl.com/main/index.php European Computing Driving Licience
Similar aims but a better site.

I used to teach English at an educational center here in Sweden, whose primary use was getting the chronically unemployed their ECDL and providing them with other job hunting skills. There were many people taking the ECDL course.

There is an unusual amount of theory.

My girlfriend (who is perfectly competent with computers) took the exams at her office for internal reasons.

As other posters have said, there are various modules on office applications, the web, e-mail etc, which would be perfectly straight forward, except for the fact the pass mark is around 80%.

The theory module is different though. Firstly, it had a much lower pass mark at about 60%.

Secondly, It has a lot of hardware theory. To help her with that, I took the cover off my computer and pointed out various components explaining their function. As I expected, her course book talked about the CPU, memory, hard drive and optical drives. I was surprised though when the course book mentioned the north and south bridge chips, the AGP and PCI busses, the fans and CPU cooler and the PSU.

Reading through the Syllabus for that module (see page 11), I also see that students are expected to know about mainframes, minicomputers (has anyone used them since the late 70s?), network terminals etc.

In summary the theory module contains a surprisingly large amount of stuff, compared with the basics in the other modules, but there is less need for the student to memorise it all.

In all honesty this ECDL seems more like a test fit for a grammar student or the elderly than for a professional (or really, anyone born in the last 40 years). Think "Microsoft Office for Dummies" but formalized into a course.