Why does a potential user have to even know about "pods"? Or worse: to "choose a pod". Just choose one for me. Is diaspora for techies, or for people who care about privacy?
Because choosing a pod involves the question of trust. When you choose a doctor, do you say "choose one for me"? Or you do your research first? I guess some might do the former without second thought, but it's not a smart thing to do.
Normally people should care about privacy. Surprise.
This is the whole problem with federation in a nutshell.