Put yourself in the shoes of seniors. When one of my Mom's friends was first learning to use the mouse, she wanted to move the cursor more than the table space would allow, so she started running the mouse up her arm.
They all laughed about it, but you see that many things we take for granted are not obvious to others.
Would you then argue that seniors should not be expected to read and understand new and/or different traffic signs and signals when driving a car? Comprehending traffic signals old and new are a basic skill essential to life in modern culture, but they can be confusing to the uninitiated be they young or old. By the same token understanding file paths and node separators are an essential skill for using computers and probably have the edge on traffic signs as far as international and intercultural recognition and comprehension are concerned.
Denier the environment you appear to be wanting already exists today in iOS 8 on the iPhone and iPad. The basic structure (and notation) is actually there, but it is hidden by iOS. I have frequently observed that OS X and iOS are growing closer and closer with each new update. But so far much of what I do in OS X is not quite there yet on my iOS devices. I am confident that will change and in the not too distant future but we are not there yet. Although my iOS devices are very useful and can replace the vast majority of what I used to have a laptop for they and the apps are not powerful enough — YET. You might want to consider an iPad with a wireless keyboard to replace your computer.
