Software user interfaces can change. So why don’t they?

One place I’d like to see groundbreaking work done is in what I call “living” user interfaces. The advantage that software has over your microwave is that it can learn and adapt to the way you use it. Your microwave can’t resize buttons based on your usage patterns, but software can. So why doesn’t it?

I think the reason is twofold. First, creating a generic process that changes a user interface without contextual information is hard. Second, is it worth it? Does the improvement in usability actually happen and is it worth the effort?

My guess is that it will be. The potential is there to improve the user experience. I think it’s not a question of “Will this happen?” more than “When will it happen?”