i\'ve never seen someone get the terms automatic and manual so mixed in the own minds or that of the readers.
automatic transmissions replaced manuals (replaced as in the predominate, normal, default type) about 30 years ago. Of course, manuals are still around and is still an option on many makes and models but it is usually not the default and usually not chosen.
automatic = you crank the car, you take the car out of \'park\' gear and put it into \'drive\' gear. no more gear shifting until you turn the car off.
manual = you hold in the clutch and the brake, put the car in neutral and crank it up. while you are driving, you have shift gears from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
this TapShift technology sounds like an automatic transmission that lets you choose when the car shifts from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. sort of like a \'power, manual transmission\' analogous to \'power brakes\' or \'power steering\'.

Anybody who visits the pits of any dragstrip will soon find out that virtually nobody drag races a car with manual transmission: it\'s just too slow! Too unreliable as well.
I used to own a 1970 Dodge Challenger with a \"slapstick\" 3 speed transmission. This technology, though in a slightly more primitive form, has existed for decades. Frankly, it boggles my mind why anybody would deliberately buy a car with manual transmission (yes, I know many Europeans; and yes, they have other quirks). More and more big rigs, for example, are being purchased with automatic shifting transmissions.
What really interests me, however, is high-efficiency, high-durability CVT technology. A solid, reliable continuously variable transmission ought to render all other transmissions obsolete.

\"automatic transmissions replaced manuals (replaced as in the predominate, normal, default type) about 30 years ago. Of course, manuals are still around and is still an option on many makes and models but it is usually not the default and usually not chosen.\"
Might be true where you are, but you\'re not \"the world\". In many places - like here in the UK - manual transmission is still by FAR the predominant option.
Tapshift is just another example of the kind of \"manumatic\" transmission that has been available for years in one form or another - VW/Audi/Skoda have Steptronic, BMW has Tiptronic, Alfa Romeo has Selespeed...
It\'s nothing new, and certainly nothing unique to cars from the US...

It\'s nice to see GM is using our \'bailout\' tax dollars for something nobody wants and nobody needs. Way to go GM (Gummit Motors)!!

I can\'t stand these \"pseudo manuals\"/paddle shifters/semi-auto transmissions. It takes the fun out of really driving a sports car. I doubt the manual transmission will ever completely go away in higher end \"drivers cars\" For example.... they mentioned the Porsche 911, but I bet the 911 GT3 will Always be a manual tranny, cuz its a true drivers car.
Eventually I think all the controls will be \"by-wire\" meaning no physical linkages, and even then I can see true \"drivers cars\" with simulated cluthes and shifters complete with force-feedback.... so even though its all electronic, it will feel just like your pressing a real hydraulic clutch in.
The other thing is (and my experience is only with cheaper cars like mazda8, and some others) Those paddles shifted cars don\'t act like true manuals because although you can selectively shift... if you don\'t, it will do it for you. So you cant rev it up and burn out, or drop it down a gear for some instantly improved acceleration (at least not at the same levels possible with a true manual)
in short... its garbage

Manuals will continue to exist for the sole reason that they are less expensive than automatics, and that won\'t happen for a while.

Joel Detrow: Here in Argentina auto transmissions are offered at the same price as manuals (they are trying to change our customs!). I still got a manual. When you shift manually, you are FEELING the engine\'s revolutions and power, and the wheel\'s speed, and there is no fancy electronic gadget that can mimic that. The audi A6 with a CVT has a simulated 7 gear mode, with discontinuous acceleration and all, but just doesn\'t feel right. There is no clutch to press, you don\'t move the crank sideways , there are no actual gears that make a bad noise and vibrate in your hand (through the crank) when you don\'t match the engine\'s speed with the wheels... For the guys who never really used manual transmission, well... you just don\'t get it. Keep thinking those triptronic will please everyone. Now, don\'t get me wrong. For my wife\'s car I bought an automatic, because she needs to keep her attention elsewhere, with the kids. But for a sports car...

@Enlightened Wookie
It only happened in America. In Europe, automatics are still a minority.
Anyway, choosing between automatic and manual is also a matter of driving experience. With manual the experience of controling the machine is much more profound and rewarding.
BTW, anyone ever tried shifting without a clutch? Not that you really need it (except if clutch breaks for some reason), but it's an interesting challenge. Automatic is just dull...
And lastly, driving manual is also a demonstration of skill. If you can handle manual, you can handle many things.

@Short fuse If recall correctly, the cars of the Indicar racing category didn't HAVE a clutch!

It's sad to see writing on a supposed engineering advance by a non-engineer. Same goes for most of the "expert" comments here. A computer controlled shifter can be operator selected (paddles) or "automatic" in an idiot mode where accelerator and brake challenges the intellect and abilities of the driver.
That said, there is one aspect of a clutch that everyone has missed...it is a continuously variable transmission/ torque multiplier. The amount of slip is determined by fine control by an experienced driver, giving the operator an advantage over fixed algorithm clutch engagement, because the amount of torque applied to the wheels can be infinitely controlled for traction conditions. In a dragster, the slip control is more important yhan gears. I raced a Ferarri 360 with paddles against my 2001 'vette Z06 at the dragstrip, and beat it with clutch slip...he also got sidelined on the next run with a "clutch overheat" where the car refused to even move.
No thanks....we men like to play with our sticks.