Keep in mind that it was released in 2002, well before the iPhone and multitouch became the dominant form of user interaction. A lot of the swiping, pinching, and rotating gestures can be found in the first scene of the movie.

For a long time after Minority Report was released, there was massive interest in futuristic UI's that featured gestures (both touch and non-touch). Minority Report really romanticised the idea of manipulating computers in a way that resembles conducting an orchestra.

The article title does rather beg the question, but I suspect the author was thinking of how gestural UI has become commonplace. Here's a useful and (and somewhat bitter) critique of the MR influence: http://www.theawl.com/2013/02/how-minority-report-trapped-us... and a recent report exploring how it might yet have life as a TV UI: http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/13/seespace-comes-up-with-a-m...

UI design feels stalled in a very weird way. whenever I try to conceive of the most futuristic interface and responsive general-purpose interfaces I've used, I keep drifting back towards 2001 and Enlighenment and Xterm 0.16 :-/ I feel part of the problem is the ubiquity of server-side CSS; I used to have an awful lot more control over my internet experience in the pre-web days, and am starting to wonder if we took a bit of a wrong turn with HTML.

Having worked in the field of interactive media installations, I can assure you that every other client between 2002 and 2010 asked for Minority Report type of interfaces. It became a running gag over time, but certainly it had some influence.

This Wikipedia article has an overview of the film's approach to technology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technologies_in_Minority_Report