Patience tends to work but I have quite a few Steam titles that I install off of the disc the first time and activate online for future updates. Civilization V was on sale a few times at $30-35 on DVD compared to getting online from Steam.Stupid idea. First of all - not everyone has a good enough connection to download such huge files. Secondly - not everyone has an internet connection! Some of my Apple-buying friends live near the moors where they can't get broadband.
And worst of all - in the UK its just the Apple stores that sell boxed applications.
A very silly move that's too far ahead of its time.