Automatic doors vs non-automatic doors

From supermarkets to small shops, universities to hospitals, from bus stations to airports, the list of establishments with automated doors goes on and on ...and on! But why? Is it pure laziness on the part of the human race, or was there a point? 
  

Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt, co founders of company Horton Automatics developed the first automatic door in 1954, when they noticed existing doors had difficulty operating in wind and harsh weather. Thus a genuine reason. But have we gone a little automatic crazy?
Imagine you’re walking to your destination, it’s a cold day and your hands are tightly positioned in your pockets, the last thing you want is to have to remove your hands form the warmth and touch a probably cold, germ-ridden (I’m not a germ-aphobe, its realistic, think how many people have touch that door!) door! Automatic door to the rescue, fingers stay nice and toasty until it is safe to remove them, and no unnecessary germs.

Automatic doors are all fine and well, until they don't open.  Then how do you get out? And no doubt by the time you figure out a solution you have walked back and forth a few times, waved your hands a little, tried to catch the sensor by surprise, all these actions starting subtle but getting more and more desperate as the situation deteriorates. Then you're left standing looking ridiculous and feeling awkward, like you're not special enough for the door to open. And you can guarantee people are watching! Where are the benefits then?!

Normal doors, (although less hygienic) are much less fussy about who gets through, occasionally there will be one that sticks a bit when you try to open it, but a little heave and its person-1, door-nil. Not to mention the warmth kept in by hinge doors that is callously thrown away by automatic doors. There are no ‘accidental’ openings of hinge doors when someone happens to pass, they are only opened when needed and thus any draft can't really be avoided! (You can tell that it is a cold day today from all this talk about cold!).

From the cleanliness point of view, automatic doors are acceptable in hospitals and airports, places the have a constant flow of people but what if we had them everywhere? What would happen to the traditional door? It would just be tossed aside because the human race was just too lazy to push a door open. And when automatic doors break, it’s more difficult to open than a normal hinge door, because automatic doors slide, would we be expected to slide it open? I predict mass hysteria and confusion!

 Conclusion: There is a time and a place for automatic doors, the status quo is fine but lets not go over the top. Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt suggested that one day, everyone would have automatic doors in their homes, this is, in my opinion, a little far. Not to mention the draft it would create, it would be less safe for families to live, and the noise of the constant opening and closing would just get irritating!