How human travel agents win vs. online agencies

At various times in the three decades I have written about travel, old-fashioned brick-and-mortar travel agents have taken me to task for seeming to favor online travel agencies (Expedia, Orbitz, etc) when searching for the lowest air fares. I don't have a bias for or against either method of booking, but maybe I should -- in favor of the human beings. Read this good Frugal Traveler column from yesterday's Times and tell me what you think about the conclusions the writer found.