It's a perfect example of the general shittiness of life. Just little things that, in of themselves, aren't bad, but they add up to make everything more difficult.

Once an IC is designed, the datasheet doesn't substantially change. It isn't a computer program that gets continuous updates every couple of months. They might add some errata for some corner cases or clarification. What happens when the IC is discontinued? I still need the datasheet, so I can understand the circuit when finding a replacement IC.