I like both film and digital, but for an everyday camera, I find that digital is more realistic and convenient.
The thing about film, is that it takes time - lots of time, but the results can be excellent. I also love cameras from the sixties/seventies, and think the Spotmatics and Nikkormats were superbly engineered.
If I was to try and explain photography to a novice, then I would get a fully manual SLR, and show them how the aperture and shutter affect the light and the depth of field. They would be able to see the lens diaphram opening and closing, and the shutter working - very difficult/impossible with a DSLR.
However, I also believe that digital photography has encouraged people to be far more creative than the old days, and has been responsible for many more people taking up photography.