Well, for the longest time, like a decade+, there was no point to spend the time unpacking the files. I could watch them with unrar| mplayer without any problems. Then XBMC came along and everything continued to work without a hitch, it isn't until now the need to unpack them has actually presented itself so i of course see this as a step back and degradation in my personal user experience.

But i guess times are changing, kids these days etc. :)