Reminds me of the term “computer” itself. During its orginal meaning (attributed to somewhere in the 1600’s) a “computer” was a person who worked through numbers. Then in the late 1800’s with the advent of more intricate mechanical devices, the term “mechanical computer” was born. This in turn led to “electronic computers” in the 1900’s, which we now simply refer to as “computers.”

What our expectations are many times does not depend on laws of physics, but rather what we’re used to as you describe.

Who knows, maybe someday, our “computers” will become so powerful and aware of their surroundings that we’ll call them “Robots.” Here’s hoping.

It is also worth noting that the keyboard is a transient phenomenon. When I went to school, the only class which used keyboards was typing. It was meant to train high school girls so that they could get a job in the typing pool which was a fact of life in most companies. In the 70s, no professional would think of using a keyboard. It is only when computers became cheaper than people that the business world disbanded the typing pools, fired the secretaries, and handed out computers to the masses.

It’s taken about 30 years for people to forget that markups used to be made with real marks; that cut and paste used to mean scissors and glue. In far less than another 30 years I suspect that we will still talk about keying things in and clicking on things but that we will accomplish it without keyboards or mice.