I like how the slap stick works. If you just place the shifter into the 'D'rive position you can go from drive to neutral without pushing the button, but if you push the button and put the shifter into 1 or 2 it locks out the neutral.
When you start from first gear, you just push forward and the shifter only lets you shift to second gear. Release the forward pressure and push again to go into third/Drive with neutral locked out.

I think someone was selling a kit to convert the earlier shifters to the slap-stick gating?