gamingbolt.com: Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has come out and said that he is very sorry for the day 1 update, which adds the Nintendo Network to the system, and has revealed that the network will run pretty solid after that patch. Future Wii U models may come with the patch installed, but this is not confirmed.
but it really isnt warranted. there are worst updates and patches out there.....
gotta respect iwata though
Some people really over exaggerated the whole update process.
But like most products out there, usually there is some sort of update right out of the box. Whether it's firmware, or drivers, etc. Most electronic devices need an update when you first get them.