They are also quite capable of blowing my mind sometimes. (Try "When will the ISS be visible?" or "coastline length of africa / length of stride")
It also told me how many ergs are in a jellybean and what time the sun would set on April 2nd (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=sunset+april+2nd%2C+201...).
Of the many technologies I use, Wolfram Alpha is the one that feels the most like the future sometimes.