Pack this, Google! [rude gesture]

So the big announcement by Google at CES was the release of Google Pack. (Actually, it wasn’t. The real big announcement was the Google Video Store, but that’s not out yet… and besides, I don’t have anything to complain about with that.)

That said, the Google Pack is the first time I’ve been disappointed with something Google has done. First of all, it’s not a product at all… it’s just an installer. There’s nothing here that I can’t download and install myself (e.g. Firefox, Acrobat Reader), but they’re hyping it like it’s revolutionizing the desktop experience.

What I disliked about the Pack is that it gives you no control over what you’re installing. You download the executable, run it, and the next thing you know, the thing is downloading 50+ Megs of software and installing it. There is apparently a way to configure what gets installed, as explained on the About page:

Do I have to install all the software in the Google Pack?
While we believe you’ll find all of the software in the Google Pack useful, you’re welcome to install as much or as little as you’d like. To customize your installation package, please click the “Add or remove software” link under the download button on the Google Pack homepage. On the Customize page, simply uncheck the box next to any program you’d prefer not to install and click the “Continue” button to complete the installation process.

I honestly didn’t see the link under the download button when I downloaded it, and there’s no excuse for not reading carefully before downloading, but this is the kind of thing that you would expect from the RealPlayer installer (a checkbox saying “Do you not want to not install the RealPlayer Message Centre?”). Configuring an installation before you download it is completely counterintuitive to what we expect from every other application out there.

I’m willing to give Google the benefit of the doubt on this one—maybe they felt that the average user would prefer to have a one-click installation—but if I see this kind of trickery from them again… I’ll… uh… start using MSN Search!