... but that's the problem... My SWMBO has the attention span of... something that doesn't have an atetntion span...
She won't play around and figure out what works and doesn't work. She will want to take it out of the box, point it at something, push the button and not wait three seconds for the picture to actually take and have nice pictures.
... and if she really enjoys it, she might take a class or something but reading a manual or figuring it out on her own?? Zero chance.
You don't necessarily learn how to shoot with a DSLR by reading the manual. You'd have to either get a book, learn online or take a class.Then you really should get a higher end point and shoot.
A friend of mine bought a DSLR last year because it was the "in" thing to do. She learned it. She's having fun with it and she's taking more pictures that she did before. Her skill level is still that of a beginner, but at least she's having fun and I suppose that's the most important thing.
I wouldn't discount point-and-shoots. Browse flickr or pbase and browse by camera type. You'd be amazed at some of the great pictures taken with point-and-shoots. I love my Canon SD1100 IS - it fits in my pocket and takes great pics. [Actually, i forget which exact model I have - the SD1100 is my work camera].