We also said that AT's would never be as fast as manuals, but look how far they've come. AT's have been being developed for much longer than DCT's. Each still has their plusses and minuses. At this point, they are both viable options for street cars, for those who don't care about having the connection of a manual transmission. Manuals don't even get better fuel economy anymore
The 6+speed transverse AT's are coming, with the Dodge Dart possibly being the first to get that 9-speed, from what I understand. Personally, I think that adding more and more gears is just creeping toward CVT'ness, if you know what I mean. At this point, you're only shifting it manually if you're looking for high performance - in which case you're losing all that fuel economy that those gears are there to provide (sure you get closer gear ratios that can help acceleration) - but it's getting past the point of being fun. Even with a 6-speed manual, I frequently find myself skipping a gear or two (usually 5th) once I've gotten up to speed and settle into my cruising speed. A 7-speed manual, Porsche? Comeon.... We're not buying manuals at this point for their fuel efficiency.