19 pages later, I think we can conclude what some of us have always known.
For many people, driving a manual is a chore that they might do if they have to. Most of us who drive one today(confession for me-only in my fun car, my daily is an auto but that's mostly because it's next to impossible to find a mid to full size manual now) do so because we enjoy it.
Some people consider learning how to operate a camera a chore. Others enjoy it, or at least do so because it's a means to getting the results we want.
I do think we have to recognize technology playing a role. These days automatics have ridiculous numbers of gears, shift almost instantaneously, and often give better gas mileage and performance than a manual. That's why most supercars are automatic now, or at least are automatically shifted manual(dual clutch) transmissions. Still, though, a manual gives me what I want when I want it, and I enjoy the process of making it do that. Even 30 years ago, your typical automatic was slow shifting power-zapper, where a properly driven manual gave you both a performance and economy advantage. The 3-speed BW35 transmission that was in my 74 Austin Marina was almost a joke for how miserable it was in an 80 horsepower, 3000lb car, and if you wanted it to downshift you'd better ask it well ahead of time.
Cameras are smart now, and many times they can guess what people would "like" a photo to look like. They are far from infallible, though, and having the ability to over-ride them or take the information they offer you and make your own decisions from it is invaluable. My focusing example above, IMO, is a good example of this. Even though I was telling it what I wanted to focus on, it easily got confused. Still, though, they're better than an 80s camera that might not give you any controls over it and just make a best(often poor) guess of what you might want. Back then, learning how to use a better camera(typically, but not always, an SLR in 35mm, and an SLR in medium format) was virtually a requirement for anyone who wanted to take their photography to the next level. At that time, some cameras were starting to get really smart about metering-like the 5 zone matrix on the Nikon FA-but you still needed to know what was going on and when you needed to over-ride it.
