The gradual withdrawal of the physical world from everyday experience is a phenomenon that has crept up on us. According to a WIRED article by Ian Bogost, an excerpt from his book The Small Stuff, automation has taken over ordinary tasks, leaving people with less direct engagement with machines. The decline of the manual transmission in automobiles serves as a powerful illustration of this broader trend.
The Vanishing Stick Shift
In 2000, the auto retailer CarMax reported that more than 15 percent of its new and used cars were equipped with manual transmissions. By 2020, that figure had dropped to just 2.4 percent. The WIRED article notes that Mercedes and Volkswagen, the maker of Bogost's own manual-transmission hatchback, announced plans to sunset the manual transmission globally. Other manufacturers followed suit. This decline is not limited to the United States; even in Europe and Asia, where higher fuel costs once made manuals more economical, the stick shift has receded.
A Philosophical and Practical Backlash
Enthusiasts and thinkers have long lamented this loss. Car and Driver magazine launched a campaign called "Save the Manuals" in 2010, arguing that learning to "operate the entire car" leads to a better driving experience. The philosopher Matthew Crawford devoted a large part of his bestselling book Shop Class as Soulcraft to how motorcycle repair infused his life with meaning. In a 2020 follow-up, Why We Drive, Crawford cast operating an automobile as an act of autonomy. He tells a story about test-driving a 400-horsepower Audi RS3 with a paddle-shifting automatic transmission. According to the WIRED article, Crawford said he "could not connect with the car" — the human operator and the machine felt out of sync.
Maintaining "natural bonds between action and perception," as Crawford put it, is necessary not only to operate a motor vehicle safely but also to feel fully human in the age of machines.
Electric Vehicles Seal the Fate
The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) makes manual transmissions obsolete. Internal-combustion engine cars need gearing to transfer power, but EVs have a different drivetrain: their electric motors transfer power more seamlessly to the wheels. As the WIRED article points out, when the manual fades, "nobody would be able to" clutch and shift anymore.
Implications for Technology Decision-Makers
The story of the manual transmission is a parable for enterprise technology. Bogost writes that "unseen choices in design, business, and social life have made it harder for you to engage directly with the sensory world." For CTOs and supply chain technology managers, this serves as a reminder that automation, while efficient, can erode human skill, judgment, and satisfaction. The CarMax data shows a complete shift in consumer preference in two decades. Similarly, trade documentation digitalisation, customs technology, and logistics platforms must balance automation with opportunities for human oversight. The decline of direct control is not inevitable — but without deliberate design choices, it becomes the default.
