groundhand... you miss the point also. The trend today in ground handling is down. Everything has to be done quicker and cheaper and everyone is trying to cut costs. New contracts are won on price, and undercutting is achieved by cutting costs (and dare I say it, corners?). Handling agents and service providers are caught up in a constant cycle of redundancies and re-organisation, and the inevitable outcome is less staff on lower wages. The consequent high turnover of staff leads to a lack of experience in all areas of the operation and mistakes are becoming more and more common.
ACARS can't make a gate agent double check all the boarding cards when they don't tally and ACARS can't make the loader move the bags he put into the wrong hold by mistake! Pilots can't call ACARS up to the flight deck when they need something!
IF everyone did their job properly my job would be much easier. But they don't, which is why someone has to co-ordinate the whole show. I've lost count of the number of loadsheet, loading and boarding errors I've spotted and rectified. Lets not forget that these errors can actually cause accidents.
Take away the dispatcher and not only are you removing a vital link in the safety chain, you also have no-one in control and no-one taking responsibility. Yes there are crap dispatchers out there, but if you pay peanuts...