Of course it does something to protect me. It means that I can plug my USB drive into a friend's computer, then plug it back into my own computer without worry.
Only if you fully trust the entire supply chain down to you. Do you have any way to verify that the mass storage device you bought was not a forgery?
I'm not aiming for perfection, just aiming to improve. It is easier for me to trust that the sealed USB drive I bought has not been tampered with than it is for me to trust that all of my friends are knowledgeable and avoid malware.
yes I agree that this looks like a good step, vendors should also probably release some tools to verify the integrity of their firmwares if possible.