I don't think that's accurate though...automatic transmissions are easier for the driver to use, that's their whole purpose. The driver doesn't have to pay attention to what gear they're in or reach down and shift gears. They also don't have those "rolling backwards" issues on hills that manual transmissions have or have to shift constantly in stop and go traffic. Automatic transmissions are expensive. And I believe it used to be that automatic transmissions had reliability issues. By "used to be" I mean 10-20 years ago, but it seems like they're pretty reliable for the lifetime of the vehicle now, though you personal experience is limited to one car.

The closest analogy pretty close to friction shifters (I think that's the term) vs index shifters. Friction shifters require taking your hand off the bar and paying a bit more attention, but they continue working after cable stretch and don't really need any shop adjustment, you just adjust how much you're shifting them after changing the chain/cassette. The more commonly sold indexed shifters don't require taking a hand off the bar to shift but they require a lot of readjustments - first when you buy the bike when the cables initially stretch. Then if the cable stretch more later or if you replace the chain or cassette. Also I don't think they sell friction shifters for today's 9/10/11/12 speed cassettes.

I'd put that as a closer analogy. But with a car an automatic transmission is less hassle to use, that's the whole point of it isn't it?