Yep, the biggest issue with automatic transmissions of any number of gears is the shift logic.
What people want and expect the gas pedal and transmission to do are at odds with what the powertrain engineers have to program the thing to do to game the fuel economy tests.
Some of the best shifting transmissions I’ve experienced were 4 and 6 speeds, some of the worst I’ve experienced were 4 and 6 speeds. We’ve got an 8 speed in my wife’s car and it is ok but could be great if it had a sport mode - I’ve driven other 8 speeds that fought you at every turn.
There’s no reason a 10 speed can’t be good too but the logic of shift logic that says upshift as quickly and highly as you can and hold the highest gear you can for as long as you can and ignore requests to downshift for as long as possible get in the way of enjoyable driving and as long as fuel economy (and emissions) are the biggest factor in transmission shift programs, that’s they way it will remain.
On the other hand, I think 10 speeds is well into diminishing returns in practical use in normal cars. 4 gears with well chosen spacing, well chosen torque converter looseness and a lockup TC clutch can provide a perfectly adequate driving experience (if not ideal for economy) and 6 or 8 should really be more than enough when we’ve got engines with fat, wide and flat torque curves thanks to optimized airflow, fuel injection, VVT, direct injection, etc. We really needed these multigear transmissions back when engines had narrow torque and HP peaks and it was hard work staying in them.
Me driving by myself: Wow, I can’t believe how rattle free this car is for 27 years old!
Me with a passenger in the car: Oh my god, I’m literally inside a maraca. WTF!?