I think many of you are not crediting the developers sufficiently. The majority of the issues you guys are imagining will very likely be resolved before you ever see the product. You also are not realizing how much of the shifting activity you are worrying about, you would be doing manually if it were not a PITA. Slowing down behind another rider should elicit a downshift if the upshift when you want to pass is super fast and right on time. You just don't do it because it's like, "Why bother?" For the auto system it won't be a bother. If the mechanism is fast and responsive, those extra shifts will be a boon, not a problem.

I do think that if the shifting response is very active, some folks may prefer a tighter cassette than otherwise. I can see the prefernce moving to compact front rings and an 11-23 11-speed cassette with single tooth shifts all the way up to the 19. Or maybe 12-26 if climbing ease is more important to you than top end speed. Those 16 and 18 tooth cogs are going to become lots more important.