Does anyone remember (or have, for that matter) an early HP Journal (I think that was where I saw it) article that "imagines" what a handheld assistant of the future might be like? I was a lot younger in those days, more gadget-oriented (well, than I am now :), and remember parts of it vividly, wish I could read / enjoy it again.
Our intrepid portagonist is wandering around an airport, lost and uncertain where his HP device is, let alone his flight. So he whistles / speaks to it, it responds from inside his briefcase (I don't remember whether it has speech or not, but believe from the context that it understood its master), and when he's fished it out, it discusses the situation with communications circuitry built into the walls of the building, gives him a map to his flight, and tells him where the nearest drink might be found, as he has plenty of time....
It's not hard to see where this "dream" missed, nor where it was almost prescient. Computer generated speech is feasible, but most people don't want to listen, it's not like a friend's. And recognizing what we say, that's a lot harder, seems still a ways away on PCs, let alone handhelds. Anticipating our wants and needs? That seems to be the promise of software agents, but as they aren't a normal part of our lives, one can't be too sure yet.
The functionality of an organizer, yept, that was on target. And if we don't have one that will converse with the airport, we already have those who will listen to satellites, tell us right where we are; surely chatty public buildings aren't far away.