Handwriting recognition for Mandarin input isn't exactly the most accurate - pinyin is fast but obviously Roman Alphabet is easier for very fast typing.

As for translation using sound for Mandarin or Chinese, the same goes to Korean and Japanese...

I don't know how much further Chinese characters will be simplified to.

But Chinese characters are definitely here to stay. The rest of the world are learning Chinese to tap into the Chinese market.

I'm a banana (unfortunately) myself but I took up primary 1 & 2 Chinese at university and I enjoyed/appreciate it. It was difficult no doubt but over time I start reading and writing characters and omit the use of pinyin completely. To me, pinyin are just sounds with no meaning. Characters are the true meaning.

That is the reason attempts to use alphabets for chinese is so difficult. Chinese is the only language that has a mono syllable for a word. Since the tongue and the ear is only limited in this area, the language is full of homophones