Actually, I'd say the "drop in and play" experience on the PC is better than consoles. Most games support automatic updates and all Steam games update themselves in the background. Background updating of games costs extra money on the 360 and PS3.
Also, all PC games install the majority of the files to a HDD by default, which is an order of magnitude faster than an optical drive, and you don't need the disc to play the game once it's installed.
Are you high?
When I said console games have a drop in and play experience, I meant literally that. Put the disc in the console, and you play. That is IT. Occasionally there is a patch to download... when that happens, it will automatically download and apply the patch and all you have to do is wait. It does not cost anything extra. You don't need to pay for Xbox Live Gold to get game patches.
SOME PC games allow you to play without having the disc in the drive. But that's a minor advantage compared with the extra steps you have to go through to install a game. If the game has a CD key, you will have to enter that yourself. If you need a patch, the game might notify you automatically or it might not. And in almost all cases, you will have to download the patch from one of those horrible websites that nag you to buy a premium account.
The biggest issue here isn't even the extra steps, it's the inconsistency. Some games need the disc in the drive, some need a key, some have online activation, some have a limited number of installs (don't forget to uninstall before formatting your hard drive!). Every console game has exactly one method of playing - put the disc in the drive and play.
There are a lot of reasons why PC gaming is desirable but I think this is the most undesirable aspect. And there is no way you could possibly argue that PC gaming is easier or simpler than console gaming. Steam is the closest you can get to the simplicity of console gaming. Buy, download, play. Patching is done automatically.