While I wouldn't categorize it as an epic fail. I too was frustrated by the program installing new copies instead of updates. Had the Creative Cloud App labelled it as an "Install" and not an "Update" I wouldn't have anything to complain about.
However I will say that it makes perfect sense if you are going to be causing issues with older plugins to allow for the older apps to continue to work without negating people who have several hundred or more dollars invested in plugins.
For me it was just a minor issue of hard drive space as the SSD I have my OS and Apps on isn't very large. No big deal, and I see it as a minor quibble.