The only thing that it makes look silly is Mac users. Program installation on Macs is so simple that mentally disabled people can figure it out. The .dmg's generally auto-mount and a window pops up with an icon of the program and an arrow pointing to the applications folder. It's unbelievably simple.
To say that this was necessary speaks volumes about the current Mac crowd and almost functions as a sort of meta-parody. It's like Apple meets Idiocracy.
According to many threads here, some people just don't get the concept of dragging and dropping of applications, even if it is that simple. Many mount the .dmg every time they want to start an application and wonder why that is.
And many applications don't come with such nice hints and Applications folder alias, thus they get confused.
Maybe Apple should include some simple tutorials into their installation screens or before/after the Setup Assistant starts, but they seem to think, that the Mac App Store is the easier variant.
Anyway, as there still is the option to use the usual ways outside of the Mac App Store, we are still lucky.
And to tie my post to your "Idiocracy" comment: I've have seen an influx over the years of switching Windows users, who are just not good with computers, but I guess that is normal, but sometimes it seems, more "idiots" are drawn to Mac OS X than ever.