Yeah, looks really cool.
About manual vs. sport shift - I don't think manual will die out any time soon. There's so much more you can do with a manual than sport shift (available on a production car that is). The sport-shifts are designed to be idiot-proof so they don't break, i.e. no bouncing off redline, stuff like that. The shifts can also be sloppy due to valve bodies designed to be comfortable. Now with a ton of money or a race car, they are about the same and the time saved with the paddles in addition to the location of them makes for better vehicle control. The only thing you get in production cars is a crappy automatic where you can tell the car when to shift.