I don't pretend to be able to define Wolfram's goals, talents and offerings, so I'll let the site speak for itself, and perhaps most easily in its FAQs. An aspect that might be intriguing for seniors is the fact that you can contribute materials and suggest data sources to the site.

General

Is Wolfram|Alpha a search engine?

No. It's a computational knowledge engine: it generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links.

It's free for personal noncommercial use as described in its Terms of Use. Subscriptions will be available in the near future with enhanced features for large-scale and commercial use.

Who is Wolfram|Alpha for?

Everyone! Its goal is to bring expert-level knowledge to everybody.

Where can I see a demo of Wolfram|Alpha?

Watch Stephen Wolfram's screencast, or look at the Examples or Visual Gallery.

What can I do with Wolfram|Alpha?

Many, many things. Or visit the Blog or Community to see what others are doing.

Why doesn't Wolfram|Alpha understand what I asked?

You might need to ask it differently, or it might be that Wolfram|Alpha doesn't yet cover what you're asking about. Try making your query the minimum number of words needed to communicate. Try different words or notations. And be sure to check your spelling.

How can I get help with Wolfram|Alpha?

Check out the resources available from the Wolfram|Alpha home page, go to the Wolfram|Alpha Community site or visit the Wolfram|Alpha Facebook page.

Try a few sections:

Words & Linguistics » Dictionary Lookup · Anagrams · Word Puzzles · Morse Code · Soundex · Languages · Number Names · ...

Health & Medicine

Sports and Games

Money and Finance

and, of course, Food and Nutrition