As an example, I mentioned to my wife a Christmas album I used to love. I spotted it in the iTunes Store and clicked Buy Album ((After discussing it with my wife, of course.)). iTunes “helpfully” asked me:

This is a completely useless confirmation screen. If — and we’re talking hypothetical here — I considered $7.99 a big purchase and needed a confirmation screen for it, wouldn’t I want to know the price, too? Wouldn’t this dialog make more sense as:

Are you sure you want to spend $7.99 on an 80s Christmas album?

Really, you’re being a bit impulsive here. That’s cool, we’ll take your money, but we want to make sure you’ve checked with your wife first.

(Okay, not actually those words. But something involving the price.)

But instead, I’ll shake my head at the idiocy, of click “Don’t ask me about buying albums again,” and never see the warning again. What was the point, then?