Is the best travel search engine around the corner?

In these days of Internet, people often think its better to buy on-line to get lower fare and faster service. The New York Times did a comparison of making travel plans on-line vs through a travel agent.  Here is what they found:

Nearly every time, travel agents bested the Internet big boys on both price (the objective part of the test) and service (what you might call the essay question). In other words, the agents suggested alternate routes, gave advice on visas and just generally acted, well, more human than their computer counterparts. (All research was all done in mid-January for trips in March.)
You can read more here.