Speech recognition is nice, but all of this is going through Google's servers. Besides not working offline, do we really want Google listening in on every thing on the Internet?
If it's optional I don't see the problem. Some people are not capable using a keyboard and a mouse, for example. Let's not let our paranoia ruin it for them.
Others of us would simply like to kick back and surf the web without reaching for the keyboard or mouse.
As for not working offline, I usually prefer to be online when I'm surfing the web anyway.
If other people have brought it up, it's because it should be brought up.
As for offline, Google likes to push things like Chrome apps working offline, so it does matter regardless of your snark.