Not to pick on Russell Beattie, but in a piece decrying interface problems with mobile phones, he illustrates why user interface design is so difficult. Beattie never argues that phones have too many features, but he does say that they have way too many buttons, and even includes a picture of a bunch of keypads to show what he’s talking about. Then he says:

The regular user wants One Button To Do One Thing.

So the answer is, in all likelihood, that what users really want is fewer features. I got a new phone a year and a half ago — it has a color display, and you can use it to surf the web, read your email, or play games. I shamefully admit that I have never installed any software on it. I haven’t even figured out how to install software on it. Every once in awhile I use it to send a text message or take a picture, and I’ve checked sports scores with it, but beyond that it’s just a phone to me. I haven’t even figured out how to add new ringtones to it.