When people do not get their relevant search results they go to directory.

People find easy to search the directory and get their results more accurately because they have a categorised structure and very easy to browse.

Thats Why the dmoz and other big directory is of such importance. As directories go into advanced categorisation they stand out to be of great importance.

The value of directory can be seen from the fact that many people are playing their roles as editors and categorising the submissions recieved. Ah! great contribution by the world-wide editors

All seo professionals what do you say about directories?

When people do not get their relevant search results they go to directory.

Gotta disagree with you here. Folks are not going to search on Google, not see exactly what they want, then hop to another site like DMOZ of Yahoo to thumb through MORE unrtelated items to finally find something they're after.

users will simply search again or refine the existing search.

I think directories are useful for inbound links, and provide a solid foundational structure of content-sorted sites, but I don't really use them much.

Why would I search when I can have Google do it for me?

Yeah its true that first people go to search engines for looking and finding things, but sometimes these directories especially the big ones provide direct targeted information very easily. These visitors may be less when compared to se but human edited directories will definitely be more valuable in future

In the coming future what do u all think of it. how and upto what level of importance they can have?

Directories are important. But people first go to search engines & search for their required sites. According to me, directories help in getting backlinks for your site. This helps in getting high PR.