Here's the rub: A lot of people keep their dishes in a cabinet above the counter, so there is empty space between the dish washer and the cabinets where the dishes should end up.

I can't think of a way around this at the moment except the possibility of in-wall dishwashers. In-wall ovens exist, so why not change dishwashers, washers and dryers to do the same?

There are a couple of brands of dishwashers with drawers. The idea is that one half gets newly dirty dishes while the other half holds the clean ones. According to Murphy, the dish you want will always be in the dirty drawer.

http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php/Drawers%3BDishwashers/N~64+42...