At this point I barely play anymore. Because with all the intermediate updates and transient failures, it takes longer to start the game than the time you would spend casually playing during a week evening.

Agreed. I have definitely been favoring platforms that let me run the binary directly, which is really just GOG, Patreon projects, and open-source.

Exactly why people buy consoles.

For the same experience as you get with an iPhone.

Except when it's not -- I rarely ever fire up my PS4 but when I do I can be guaranteed to have to wait a half hour for updates to install

Same with new games ... pop in the disc, run the install routine, download the day 1 patch...

The problem referenced by the GP is worse on consoles in my experience. Did the system software get updated today? Well, no network features for you until you download it.

What about that video streaming app? Well, there's a new version, so you have to download that right now or you can't watch. Oh, and we logged you out. Get out your phone or computer and type in this link. Then log in there and type this code. Make sure you enable all javascript because otherwise this won't work. Also, there will be an awkward pause after the computer tells you you've activated where the console won't indicate the same and you'll wonder if it even worked.

Granted, some consoles handle this better than others.

The situation degraded so far that it actually gives me a benefit. Ubisoft and EA now offer cheap subscriptions, so I never actually have to buy a game from them again; I just pay a low price once a year for a month or two of access. Why wait for Assassins' Creed: Valhalla at 75% off when I can play it now for less (and it is still cheaper in the rare cases I want to play something a second time). EA even seem to be getting in bed with Microsoft, with the XBox for PC premium subscription thing gaining EA access, so I expect that platform may actually die sooner rather than later and get folded into XBox (which seems to use the built in Windows store distribution). I really can't fathom how the divisions at the big companies running these stores can justify their existence, where trying to maximize their share of the market appears to just be driving it into the ground.

I think its actually driven by marketing wanting to control messaging over their channel. Having little more than tiny little text and picture boxes to try and sell you stuff probably drives them nuts