I like the first idea, and actually I'm surprised it's taken this long to develop a shifter that blocked potential money shifts.
As for the second idea, that sounds kind of like the 370Z's automatic rev-match feature, minus the clutch. While I see the benefit of the Z's system on track, I think it would take a lot of fun out of the experience on the street since part of the fun is aiming for that perfectly smooth shift every time and the sense of accomplishment each time you nail it just right. With that second BMW system, they might as well just make a DCT with individual selectors for each gear on the shifter and keep the up/down paddles on the steering wheel. Sounds like it'd be basically the same thing functionally.
