How about an MP3-playing universal remote worldphone with WiFi access? And throw in Bluetooth. Heck, gimme a whole mouthful of Blueteeth.

On paper, the more features a gadget has, the better. In the field, however, too many features just leads to frustration. It’s called “Feature Creep.” It’s taxing consumer patience, and costing businesses big bucks. This recent New Yorker article nails it:

a recent study by Elke den Ouden, of Philips Electronics, found that at least half of returned products have nothing wrong with them. Consumers just couldn’t figure out how to use them. Companies now know a great deal about problems of usability and consumer behavior, so why is it that feature creep proves unstoppable?