The interface isn't made to handle lots of traffic. Error detection and correction isn't exactly robust. The interface was not made to control elaborate or complex functions. It was made so that micro-controllers could easily identify unique sensors and read their unique serial numbers. Data flow and control are just beneficial side effects, probably built out of headroom in a small instruction set.
That doesn't mean you can't make it do it, though. Dallas alone has a few devices made that can translate data to and from devices on the slave end. To interface with an array of analog sensors, they make a 4 channel a/d converter. The cool thing about this chip is that the analog inputs not used can be used as addressable switch outputs. They also make counters, to grab wind speed, motor rpm, and the like.
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