What were you thinking, Apple?! March 21
Yeah, so it’s again been awhile since I updated this blog. I’ve been composing what’s becoming a long essay on software installation/distribution methods… probably gotta cut it down a bit, but first I have to finish it 
But I couldn’t help but notice how crazy the installation scheme for one of Apple’s latest software updates is: download the new iPod updater and wonder at the number of layers of packaging you’ll have to tear through in order to actually use the update:
- MacBinary encoding (completely unnecessary if the web server is configured correctly) around…
- a disk image, containing…
- an Installer package, which installs…
- a new folder within /Applications/Utilities, containing…
- a single item, the updater application, which you have to find and run in order to update your iPod
This is ridiculous. The more steps in an unwrap-and-install process, the more difficult it get for novice users, and the more susceptible it is to failure (of the human or machine variety). Not to mention that all the intermediate-stage files are the digital equivalent of fast-food packaging — you’re just going to get rid of them once you get to the goodies inside.
They could have done this much more simply — either a disk image containing the app and docs (perhaps with some prompt included to “double-click this”), or an “internet-enabled” disk image that just dumps the app onto your desktop and then goes away. Why didn’t they?