So, I’ve been excused accused of being elitist in the past, at least in regards to computer usage.  I used to be bothered by that, but I’ve learned to embrace it because its probably very true.  In fact, in the past 8 months or so, I think I’ve become more elitist.

One of the turning points for me was an observation a friend of mine made “What’s centrally located in everyone’s cube?  What’s the one thing they use more than anything else?  Now tell me, what’s the one thing they know the least about.”  People who are knowledge workers in the year 2009 should be able to do a few basic computer tasks.  If you cannot do those tasks, well…  “There are many exciting career opportunities in the fast food industry.”

So, I’ve decided to build a test…  I’ve got a few items for the test, but I think I’ll need some more.

1. Can you locate a file and copy it to a flash drive?
2. … burn it on a CD?
3. … attach it to e-mail?
4. … post it on the web (in any form)?
5. Can you create a simple PowerPoint/OpenOffice Presents/Keynote presentation?  (Prettiness not required.)
6. Can you sort data in Excel/OpenOffice Spreadseet/Numbers?
7. Can you navigate to a webpage (without getting the link in e-mail?)
8. Can you plug in a mouse/monitor/keyboard?
9. Can you add an entry to your cell phone address book? (No answer is okay if you don’t have one.)
10. Can you take the photos off your digital camera? (No answer is okay if you don’t have one.)
11. Set the screen saver to be password protected?

Okay, I do need more questions, but I’m off to another meeting at the conference I’m at.  More later…