A manual transmission does have one upside. It creates engagement around the experience of driving, which I believe is something many vehicles lack. I sound like [old man yells at cloud], but people just do not seem to be paying attention to what they're doing in their giant metal death machines these days.
There are the fun aspects obviously. I know that when I want to pass another car, go around a corner at speed, and navigate snowy roads I'll be in exactly the right gear without the computer having to guess what I want. But those are secondary to the demand of attention created by it.
It seems this is more likely for devices that are stationary but limited to battery power. Off the top of my head, I could imagine replacing the battery in my electronic front door lock with a tidy hardwire to avoid the need for occasional replacement.