I do see the furture as going the more active route with computers. I don't really think that the Sci-Fi movies showing a computer actively talking back with the user all that far fetched.
We use out computer for so much more than we ever thought we would, like booking hotels, air lines tickets, to checking the weather. And after 411 calls started to charge per call, we even look up the numbers online now. Which is great because you can sometimes find a matching web site to go with it.